A
father of two, Mr. John Ujatalor, has accused the Medical Director of Ogbeide
Medical Centre Ubiaja, Edo State, Dr. John Ogbeide, of negligence in the death
of his baby and wife, Eunice.
Eunice
was said to have died on April 5, 2014 while she was being delivered of the
baby at the hospital. She was said to have been over 10 months pregnant at the
time.
In
a telephone interview with PUNCH Metro, Ujatatlor said the scan results
showed Eunice was expected to give birth in March 2014.
Ujatalor
said, “Eunice had her first two deliveries in that hospital. Naturally when she
was pregnant for the third time, we went back there. Ogbeide told us that from
the scan results, Eunice ought to have given birth in March. Ogbeide also said
from his own calculation, she ought to have delivered in February. He assured
us that there was no cause for alarm so, Eunice kept showing up for ante natal
clinics as at when due.”
On
April 4, 2014, Eunice was said to have begun her labour at about 10pm. Ujatalor
said his wife was left in the care of the nurses on duty.
He
said, “I was told to go back home. I waited till 5.30am, expecting to receive a
call that Eunice had been delivered of our baby. When I got no such call, I
went to the hospital; this was around 6am. I waited till 8am for the good news.
“Around
9am, Ogbeide called me aside. He told me that he would have to deliver Eunice
by Caesarian section because the baby was coming out with the hand first
instead of the head. Although I was worried, I gave my consent.”
At
about 1pm, Ogbeide informed Ujatalor that his wife and baby did not survive the
surgical procedure. He allegedly told the bereaved husband that Eunice’s uterus
had ruptured and had died of internal bleeding.
Ujatalor
said, “Ogbeide should have known something was wrong immediately the labour became
prolonged. Instead, he allowed Eunice to labour for a long time. By the time
she was being operated, she was already weak.
“As
if that was not enough, the policemen he brought to the hospital also shot
Eunice’s brother Damien in the eye. He had gone to the hospital to demand that
he see his sister’s corpse.”
PUNCH
Metro gathered that after Ogbeide was
told of his wife’s death, he was taken away from the hospital to his home.
However, when Damien was informed of the incident, he went to the hospital to
demand answers.
Damien
was allegedly denied entrance into the hospital’s mortuary. He reportedly went
back a few hours later. At the time, two armed policemen from the Ubiaja Police
Station were at the hospital. Damien was reportedly shot in the eye by the
policemen.
His
sister, Kate Esene, said, “We went to the police station to report the
shooting. Unknown to us, the same policeman who shot Damien, was sitting at the
counter. It was when he refused to take our statement that we realised he was
the same person.
“We
later took Damien to the Irrua Specialist Hospital. He was transferred to the
University of Benin Teaching Hospital. Although the divisional police officer
of Ubiaja learned of the shooting and came to the hospital, he treated the
matter with levity and said Damien was shot with a tear gas gun.”
Although
Ogbeide was said to have been later arrested alongside the policemen involved
in the shooting, PUNCH Metro gathered that they were later released on
bail.
When
contacted, Ogbeide said, “Ujatalor has already gone round several media houses
with the same allegation. I have nothing more to say. The matter is already
with the police.”
Edo
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Moses Eguaveon, confirmed the
incident.
He
said, “Arrests have been made and investigation is ongoing. Ogbeide and
Ujatalor’s statements have been taken. As for the allegation against the Ubiaja
Police Division, Damien was alleged to have gone to the hospital with an angry
mob. Perhaps it was done with the intention of attacking the hospital. A
distress call was sent to the police and when they arrived, they met Damien
with a broken bottle. In the process, a riot gun exploded and Damien was
wounded. Investigation is ongoing to determine if he was wounded by the riot
gun or bottle.”
-PUNCH