The Nigeria Police Force, Enugu State command, has said it would arrest and prosecute the branch chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Dr Jide Uzoigwe, if he did not produce one Doctor Chibuoke accused of manslaughter on Thursday.
Dr Chibuoke and a nurse working with the hospital were accused of prescribing and administering drug that killed one late Janet Nwaosu on October 18, 2022.
SaharaReporters reported that the family of late Romanus Nwaosu of Amaeta village in Mgbowo, Awgu local government of Enugu state had while accusing Dr Chibuoke and a nurse of killing their mother, alleged that they had injected their mother with a drug that killed her in less than five minutes.
According to the family, the accused health practitioners were not the ones assigned to take care of the deceased at the hospital.
The Divisional Police Officer of Ozalla Police Division had earlier wrote the UNTH Chief Medical Director, Dr Obinna Onodugo, on October 20, to produce the said Doctor Chibuoke but he allegedly ignored the police request.
It was gathered that following irreconcilable demands from the hospital management which seized the corpse of late Nwaosu, demanding before release that her daughter must provide a court affidavit indicating that the family will not pursue the case further, the Ozalla DPO, SP Imo Henry C. transferred the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Enugu on Thursday last week.
Angered by the demand of the CMD that the police should charge the late Nwaosu’s daughter to court for malicious damage in the face of manslaughter committed against her mother, the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of State CID, Fidelis Ogarabe, ordered the UNTH-ARD President, Dr. Jide Uzoigwe to produce the accused doctor and nurse by Thursday.
Sources in the meeting told said the DCP also threatened to arrest and prosecute the ARD-UNTH president for obstruction of investigation in the manslaughter case if he failed to produce the accused doctor and the nurse on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
Miss Augustina Nwaosu, daughter of the late Janet, who was taking care of her mother before her unfortunate demise, said that the hospital instead of showing remorse and empathy for the alleged killing of her mother, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Obinna Onodugo, invited the police to arrest her for complaining and demanding justice.
Although she admitted that she broke glasses of two windows in the hospital, she said it was done in anger and she was ready to replace the damaged windows.
She explained that the said windows were damaged because one of the health practitioners allegedly responsible for her mother’s death was hiding in a room and refused to issue them death certificate to take the body of her mother home for burial till 6:30pm even after they had paid every bill the hospital gave them.
Speaking on the new development, Augustina said, “Till now I have not seen the doctor that prescribed and supervised the injection of drug that killed my mother. No empathy from the doctor, her family and the hospital. So they fill as an institution they will intimidate my family and get away with the killing of my mother. But even if they get away with it, God is not man, he still lives and he is watching.”
