Protest Rocks UCTH Over Arrest Of 3 Nurses By Police

Nurses of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar (UCTH) yesterday protested the arrest of three of their colleagues by the Nigeria police force after a patient died in the hospital facility without the nurses recording the data of the deceased.

The nurses came out enmasse and marched to the gate of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital and barricaded the gate, preventing vehicular movement to and from the hospital.

Findings by LEADERSHIP revealed that the three nurses were arrested following the death of a patient.

The police accused them of failing to provide information about the patient, an act they tagged as negligence of duty.

Up to 200 nurses came out and blocked the entrance to the hospital, preventing visitors from accessing the facility.

A nurse who pleaded anonymity said, “Yesterday, 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 at 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 on the matter, they ran to the police, who stormed the hospital and arrested three nurses who attended to the deceased”.

To press for colleagues’ release, the nurses marched straight  en masse to the Headquarters of the Cross River State Police command and demanded colleagues’ release.

Efforts to get a reaction from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital failed, as the telephone number of the UCTH chief medical director, Prof. Ikpeme, couldn’t be reached.

However, several patients who came to access treatment at the medical facility of the UCTH were shut out.

In the same vein, relatives of  a particular patient who attempted to force themselves into the hospital morgue were given slaps by the aggrieved for attempting to force themselves into the morgue to deposit the remains of one of their relatives who had passed away.

Reacting to the issue in a telephone conversation, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO Irene Ugbo, blamed the nurses on duty for negligence.

“How could trained nurses admit a patient into the hospital without taking data from the good Samaritan who brought the patient into the hospital? It’s unethical, ” Ugbo asked.

As of the time this report was filed, the police PPRO stated that the commissioner of police had instructed that the arrested nurses be released.