Patients shut Edo Central hospital over armed robbery attacks

Patients on admission and those who cater for them on Tuesday protest the incidents of robbery and attempted rape at the Edo Central Hospital located along Sapele road in Benin. The patients protested round the hospital appealed to the management to provide security for their safety.

Some of the victims who spoke decried that the lack of security, especially at night, at the hospital.

The patients alleged that those on admission had been robbed at gun point and disposed of their money and other valuables while they also alleged rape in the process.

They said the recent incident of attack occurred last weekend when some armed men broke into the gynaecology ward where they robbed and raped patients for several hours.

One of the victims, Mrs Maurine Idahosa said she experienced robbery in the hospital on Sunday night.

“I saw somebody and I thought he was going to ease himself because you cannot stop somebody like, I thought he was a patient who was going to urinate but before I knew it they have taken my bag almost a hundred thousand naira and four phones monies meant for my sister that is sick and for myself and when we came out, we saw that they have gone through one window near the bathroom in the process one of them was caught.
“We have come out to protest because our lives are not safe, doctors’ lives are not safe, nurses lives are not safe, patients are not safe”
Another victim, Frances Oghenekharo said “Robbers came on Sunday at about after 1 am. There is no enough security and when we shouted, we thought security will come, it was only one elderly man that was at the gate but one of them was caught because he doesn’t have a patient here and he is not a patient here and we insisted that he must be arrested how come he is here at that time. Police came and went with the man.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr David Osifor, who however denied incident of rape and robbery in the hospital, said it was a case of theft.

Osifor explained that a lady who lost money at the hospital must have given information to people who are close to her about the money with her.

He said the matter which is currently under investigation had been reported to the police and promised that adequate security will be put in place to prevent future occurrence.

“It happened in the female ward, it was not really an armed robbery, it was just a minor scare and we are handling the matter.  It is also not true that patients on admission are been raped as been speculated,” he stated.

The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Philip Ugbodaga, addressed the protesters and assured them that adequate security would be provided.

He said, “When the incident happened, I reported the matter to the police and our security guard were able to get one the robbers and was handed over to the police. We have requested for police presence at night.”

He said they believe that the robbery was done in collaboration with an insider because when they entered the ward, they didn’t even ask for the money, but went straight to where the money was kept to pick it.

Leaership Ng,.