CALABAR: UCTH NURSES PROTEST ARREST OF COLLEAGUES BY POLICE

Read Time:1 Minute, 45 Second

By Oduola F.A.

Nurses at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) staged a protest on Monday following the arrest of three colleagues by the Nigeria Police after a patient died in the hospital without proper documentation of the incident by a nurse.

In large numbers, the nurses marched to the hospital gate, where they barricaded the entrance, halting both incoming and outgoing vehicular movement.

Vanguard gathered that the three nurses were arrested following the death of a patient, who the police accused of failing to provide information about, an act the police tagged as negligence of duty.

No fewer than 200 nurses came out and blocked the entrance to the hospital preventing visitors from accessing the facility.
One of the protesting nurses, who pleaded anonymity, said: “A patient was brought into the hospital by a Good Samaritan and made some payments for his treatment before leaving.

“Unfortunately, the patient died before it was dawn and relatives of the patient stormed the facility upon hearing that their relative, who was on admission in our facility had died and they discovered that the deceased’s SIM card was missing.

“The family members demanded that the nurses provide the missing card or details of the Good Samaritan be provided.

“When they discovered that the nurses were unable to give useful information to that effect, they ran to the police, who stormed the hospital and arrested three nurses, who attended to the deceased.”

To demand the unconditional release of their colleagues, the nurses also marched to the Command Headquarters of the Cross River State Police.

The protest disrupted medical activities at the hospital as some patients were locked out and efforts to speak with the management were also futile.

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, blamed the nurses on duty for negligence.

“How can trained nurses admit a patient into the hospital facility without taking data from the Good Samaritan, who brought the patient into the hospital, it’s unethical,” Ugbo queried.

She, however, told Vanguard that the Commissioner of Police had instructed that the arrested nurses be released immediately.