By Sarah NEGEDU
The management and staff of Maitama General Hospital, Abuja, have been absolved of any form negligence in the death of Greatness Olurunfemi in September, 2023.
Report by the investigative panel set up by the Federal Capital Territory Administration to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Miss Greatness Olurunfemi, suggest that the deceased was a Brought in Dead, BID, case.
Recall that Olorunfemi was a victim of ‘one-chance’ incident on 26th September, 2023, and was later pronounced dead by authorities of the hospital.
Following media reports claiming that the victim died as a result of negligence by medical personnel in the hospital, FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, set up an independent panel of investigation into circumstances surrounding her death, with a major term of reference to determine if she died in the hospital or was brought in dead.
Secretary, Health Services and Environment, FCTA, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, who received the panel report on behalf of the administration, regretted that Ms. Greatness Olorunfemi’s painful death was due to insecurity in the FCT.
Fasawe, while maintaining that the cardinal objective of medical personnel was to save lives, said the FCT Administration would not fail to play its part in ensuring that personnel carry out their duties in conducive environment.
She added that the FCT Minister was also determined to beef up security in the territory, particularly issues of one-chance with the planned introduction of mass transit buses in the nation’s capital.
The Secretary, while apologising to the family that the body of their late daughter was not treated properly, noted that the profession’s ‘dignity in death’ principle is tended to handle dead bodies with dignity.
Earlier, the chairman of the investigative panel, Prof. Mohammed Aminu, while presenting the report, summarised that there was no sufficient evidence to show that Olorunfemi died in Maitama District Hospital.
Mohammed, stressed that his report which relied on CCTV footage obtained from the emergency centre of the hospital and witnesses did not indicate that there was any discussion between the medical personnel and the “good Samaritan”, meaning there was no demand for Police report.
The report also shows that the victim was attended to within five seconds of being brought to the hospital.
The panel which comprised of doctors and other medical personnel, also picked holes in the claims that the victim was allowed to bleed to death, saying investigation revealed that there was little stain on the victim’s cream-coloured dress, as well as in the vehicle that conveyed her to the hospital.
According to the chairman, the vehicle which took the deceased to Maitama hospital, as well as the her cream-coloured dress would have been drenched in blood, if indeed it was a case of bleeding to death.
