Ndifreke Jacob and Ibanga Isine
Harvests of beatings and humiliation
Investigation by GuardPost shows that no fewer than 15 patients may have lost their lives following the invasion of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Akwa Ibom State, by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 12.
However, the fate of several other patients who reportedly fled the facility against medical advice remains uncertain.
According to two top hospital officials who spoke with this publication on condition of anonymity, more than 15 deaths occurred during the crisis.
They noted that the total number may be higher, adding that the withdrawal of services by doctors and nurses made it impossible to record fatalities, and that relatives allegedly removed some remains hurriedly to avoid payment of hospital bills.
As heavy gunshots and teargas exploded that morning, GuardPost learnt that frightened relatives held on to patients fighting for their lives at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital and at the Intensive Care Unit, critically ill patients were thrown into absolute confusion.
As the confrontation by the rampaging operatives escalated, the hospital’s generators were switched off, and union leaders ordered their members to withdraw services in protest.
The consequences were immediate and potentially devastating. Patients on life support machines, the critically injured in the Accident and Emergency Unit, and frail newborns in incubators were left in danger.
Immediately, doctors disappeared from consulting rooms. Nurses abandoned their duty posts. Laboratories were shut down. Theatres were abandoned. Classrooms and payment points were deserted.
Many patients who could walk took to their heels. Those who were unable to run were left behind in the chaos that followed.
Outside the administrative block, angry staff locked the gates against the heavily armed masked men who had desecrated the peaceful atmosphere of what was supposed to be a sanctuary of healing.
Many staff members were assaulted, injured, humiliated, and arrested in what the Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton, described as an “ill-conceived operation that should never have happened.”
Eyo Ekpe, a well-known Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee, was among those affected.
The fact that a renowned surgeon and senior hospital administrator was dragged from his seat and viciously beaten, while staff members who tried to record the incident were assaulted and had their phones smashed, showed the level of impunity demonstrated during the operation.
It also raises serious concerns about the apparent disrespect for the sanctity of human life, the safety of healthcare workers, and the inviolability of a medical facility devoted to saving lives.
By the time the trigger-happy operatives withdrew after arresting six staff they may not prosecute, the hospital had become a crime scene and a tragedy whose full impact may never be completely known.
Despite an extensive investigation, this publication was unable to determine who ordered the invasion and the reasons behind it.
Many weeks after the troubling incident, it appears that the country has moved on as if nothing unusual happened. The public outcry has subsided, and the situation appears to have disappeared from the media.
The EFCC’s response was a weak apology, which many people saw as lacking genuine remorse for the injuries, humiliation, arrests, and inconveniences caused by the deadly operation.
When the Dead and the Living Ran Away
While viral videos circulating on social media captured terrified staff, patients, and visitors scrambling for safety during the EFCC raid on the hospital, they revealed only a fraction of what witnesses describe as one of the darkest days in the history of the institution.
GuardPost’s investigation shows that at least 15 patients died as a result of the operation. At the same time, dozens more reportedly absconded from the hospital or were taken away by family against medical advice.
Because regular medical services collapsed during the incident and during the two-day strike, the exact number of casualties may never be known.
What happened within the wards after the power source was turned off and essential services were shut down may never be completely known. The whole extent of the pain is likely to emerge only in fragments gathered from the accounts of grieving families, traumatised patients, and worried healthcare workers.
Doctors and nurses who saw the commotion are still attempting to understand what happened. Families are still dealing with the loss and uncertainty that followed. For many, the memories are still raw and painful.
What was once a sanctuary of healing, hope, and life preservation was turned into a scene of terror, confusion, and human suffering. The EFCC created a theatre of war in the heart of a hospital.
Inyene Samuel, whose child survived the crisis, said she watched helplessly as many relatives rushed their loved ones out of the hospital.
“So many people died, both the young and the old, and their relatives took them away,” she told GuardPost, with her voice still heavy with emotion.
Another relative, Lizy David Lawson, whose daughter, Precious, is receiving treatment at the Paediatric Surgical Ward, said what happened that day is difficult to understand.
More details here...
