In Port Harcourt, Rivers State, some angry e-hailing drivers have accused medical staff at a facility of incompetence that led to the death of their colleague, Kelvin Edonoge.
The drivers sung songs of solidarity and demanded justice for Kelvin as they staged a protest in front of the hospital on the Ken Saro-Wiwa Road in Port Harcourt.
According to information obtained, the deceased went to the hospital on Monday to have a mass in his neck surgically removed.
The 32-year-old reportedly experienced difficulties soon after the operation that caused him to begin internally bleeding.
The protester who spoke amid the incensed motorists did not provide his name, but he claimed that when the bleeding began, Kelvin’s surgeon was nowhere to be found.
He said, “He (Kelvin) brought himself here with his wife for a minor surgery due to a slight growth in his neck. He was admitted. He came out of the surgery and then the surgeon left.
“After two to three hours, according to the wife, he started bleeding. Then, he couldn’t speak again. They tried their best to reach out to the surgeon but he wasn’t picking up.
“When he finally picked up, he told them he was far away and that he could not come back. Now, the resident doctor on ground could not do anything, and this young man died between 6pm and 4am; somebody who came in alive was rolled out dead.”
Several people’s lives were positively impacted by the victim, according to a different demonstrator who only went by the name Dan.
Dominic, Kelvin’s father, described the circumstances of his son’s death as sad, but claimed that Kelvin wasn’t given enough care by the surgeon, nurses, and other medical professionals.
In order to ensure that his son’s death was not in vain, the grieving father swore to pursue justice in court.
Dominic said, “They just did it as if he was an armed robber or someone unknown. The operation was not successful and it was not the will of God to kill my son.
“The management has never invited me or my wife to say this was what happened. They never did. I paid for the ambulance. I will contact a lawyer and take up the matter.”
It was reported that during the protest, armed police officers blocked the hospital’s entrance to keep the demonstrators from entering the building.
An employee of the hospital’s customer service department who gave his name as Chima stated he was unable to comment on the situation.
When asked for a spokesman’s contact information, he merely said, “You can come tomorrow (Thursday).”
Grace Iringe-Koko, the state police public relations officer, stated that the command had not yet received a report of the incident.
“Did they report the matter to the police? If they haven’t, that is the first thing to do, and then we will take it from there. For now, the command is yet to get such a report,” she stated.
