The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu has maintained custody of Mrs. Janet Nwaosu’s remains, a year after allegations that its doctors caused her death.
During this time, the hospital management has denied the family access to the corpse.
The incident began when the family of the late Romanus Nwaosu from Amaeta village in Mgbowo, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, accused Dr. Chibuoke and a nurse of causing the death of Mrs. Janet, who was admitted to UNTH on October 18, 2022.
The family asserted that Dr. Chibuoke and the nurse administered a drug to their mother without consent, resulting in her death within minutes. Notably, these health practitioners were not assigned to care for the deceased at the hospital at the time they administered the drug.
Over a year later, the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Dr. Obinna Onodugo, has declined to release Janet’s body, citing an incident where one of the deceased’s children allegedly broke a hospital window. Despite the family having paid all necessary fees, the CMD issued an order prohibiting family members from seeing their mother’s corpse for the past year.
The deceased’s daughter, Miss Augustina Nwaosu, revealed to Punch on Wednesday that the hospital management has been involving the family of the deceased in a series of legal proceedings, shuffling them between different police authorities. Augustina, who had been responsible for her mother’s care prior to the tragic alleged incident, expressed her frustration.
She expressed her dismay that instead of displaying regret for her mother’s death, the CMD, Dr. Onodugo, took the step of involving the police to apprehend her when she voiced her concerns and sought justice.
Augustina described how the CMD had employed the police to harass and distress her family over the past year, warning them that he would make their lives difficult for daring to raise complaints about the incident. She made an appeal to Nigerians and human rights organizations for assistance.
Additionally, she mentioned that Dr. Jide Uzoigwe, the former Chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at UNTH, had informed her family that they would continue to expend their resources while the hospital would persistently obstruct their efforts in every police investigation related to the matter.
