UUTH’s Evasion: CMD Appeals To Striking Doctors, Union

By Patrick Titus, Uyo

University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Akwa Ibom State is the only publicly accessible federal tertiary health institution in the state, attending to between 600 and 800 patients daily.

The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Hospital, Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, appealed to doctors and the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association to consider this reason and suspend the ongoing indefinite strike at the hospital, stating that innocent patients may lose their lives if medical services remained paralysed.

Prof. Bassey made the appeal recently while speaking to journalists in Uyo on last Tuesday’s invasion of the hospital by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over an investigation involving an alleged fake medical report.

It is recalled that violent incidence erupted at the hospital on Tuesday, after armed EFCC operatives stormed the facility to arrest Prof. Eyo Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, over delays in authenticating a medical report linked to the EFCC.

The operation triggered protests by doctors and hospital workers, who accused the operatives of invading the hospital with armed personnel, firing tear gas and assaulting staff members, leading to a shutdown of medical services.

Confirmed report showed that shortly after the incident and the ensuing stop-work action by medical practitioners, a middle-aged man reportedly died at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital, a development that heightened panic and shock among patients and their relatives.

The CMD, while lamenting the development, pleaded with the unions and medical personnel to consider the plight of innocent patients who depend on the hospital for survival.

“I want to appeal to the leadership of the NMA and the unions to consider the innocent patients who may lose their lives if left unattended. The stoppage of work does not benefit the perpetrators of the act in any way,” Bassey said.

He described the hospital as the only publicly accessible federal tertiary health institution in Akwa Ibom State, attending to between 600 and 800 patients daily.

According to him, the crisis originated from an EFCC request seeking authentication of a medical report allegedly issued by the hospital in respect of a suspect under investigation.

Bassey opened up that internal checks later revealed that the report was fake and issued with an outdated hospital letterhead, adding that the doctor whose name appeared on the report was not a staff member of the department indicated in the document.

“We discovered that some actors had opened a fake folder with no official documentation and issued a fake medical report,” he stated.

The CMD explained that Prof. Ekpe had already prepared a draft response confirming the report was fake before EFCC operatives allegedly stormed his office and attempting to arrest him.

“At no point did the operatives formally notify hospital management or present any arrest warrant before attempting to drag out a professor from his office,” he alleged.

While acknowledging the anti-corruption role of the EFCC, Bassey urged security agencies to observe proper rules of engagement when dealing with health institutions.

“This hospital is a place of last resort for millions of citizens. It is a hallowed ground, not a place for violent operations that could endanger patients and healthcare workers,” he added.

Also speaking, Prof. Ekpe alleged that he was dragged out of his office by armed operatives despite informing them that he was neither the author of the medical report nor a suspect in the matter.

He further alluded that some hospital workers sustained injuries during the operation as panic spread across the facility following the firing of tear gas and gunshots.