Ogun Psychiatric Patients Protest Poor Treatment

A psychiatric doctor, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, alongside three other nurses yesterday, escaped death by the whiskers when the psychiatric patients at the Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Aro, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital violently protested the poor treatments they are subjected to at the facility.

The protest, which took the entire staff of the health facility by surprise, lasted over two hours before police operatives from the Lafenwa Divisional Headquarters intervened and brought the situation under control.

LEADERSHIP gathered that the mentally-challenged persons at the facility protested poor feeding, sanitary system as well as the absence of alternative electricity each time the power firm seizes electricity supply.

Some relatives of the patients on admission told LEADERSHIP that the matter had been for a while before some of the partially healed patients resorted to protesting the situation even when it became obvious that management would not remedy the situation.

A female relative of one of the patients, who pleaded anonymity, told LEADERSHIP that the least amount being paid by each of the affected patients ranged from N500,000 to N700,000 depending on the length of their stay in the hospital.

When contacted, the public relations officer of the facility, Ajibola, said the matter was “just an internal affair”, which has been addressed and does not worth being reported as a news piece.

The Lafenwa divisional police officer (DPO), Enatufe Omoh. said only one of the psychiatric doctors was assaulted as he sustained varying degrees of teeth bites from the protesting on-admission-patients.

Enatufe said the protesters had disagreement with their handlers at the health facility having been denied some privileges, which included seeing their relatives who would take them home after being discharged from the hospital as well as not being allowed to freely move around.

He denied the death of anybody within the period the protests lasted.