The Federal Government this Thursday acknowledged the shooting incident at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, where a press conference to be addressed by doctors on the Covid-19 pandemic was disrupted by hoodlums believed to have been sent by unnamed government operatives.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on Covid-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, vowed at the regular briefing on Covid-19 that security agents will investigate and fish out those behind the attack and bring them to book.
The announcement comes as reports emerge that the Ondo State Commissioner for Health, 65 years old Dr. Wahab Adegbenro, has passed on from Covid-19 related complications. Details are still sketchy on the Ondo incident, but recall that the Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has been in isolation after testing positive to Covid-19 days ago.
Mustapha spoke as many continue to express disgust that the sanctity of a federal hospital in the capital town of Lokoja was brazenly breached, and health workers attacked in a state getting notorious for violence
The SGF thanked those who drew attention to the attack on health workers and promised that the Federal Government will take action.
There are reports from Lokoja that many health workers are afraid of reporting for duty after the bizarre drama.
Nigeria Everyday reports that amidst accusing fingers pointed in the direction of the state government that it is behind the hoodlums that attacked doctors that wanted to put a lie to the State government’s claims that the state was virtually free of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government says the attackers were relations of angry hospital patients that were abandoned by health workers.
The attack sent doctors fleeing in different directions, leaving behind their laptops and phones, which the hoodlums took away.
The State government did not say if any of the attackers has been arrested.
Kogi Commissioner of Information, Kingsley Fanwo, maintains it was only a protest by the relations, though there were reports of gunshots.
Said Fanwo, “Preliminary findings revealed that the violence ensued when relations of patients in the medical facility protested against the failure of the management of the hospital to attend to them.
“Many people in the emergency ward were left unattended to and a mother delivered at the gate of the hospital. That generated a lot of public tension in the state.
“Tension started building since yesterday when patients and their relatives learnt of a plan by the medical staff to stage a protest today, seeking protection from COVID-19.
“We urge the people of the state to remain calm as government will ensure maintenance of law and order.
“We also sue for calm and urge medical authorities to remain committed to their medical profession and responsibilities as Government will protect them in order to give them the confidence to deliver. Healthcare management must never be politicized.
“Also, government will carry out further investigations to ascertain the remote causes of the breach of peace by the protesters and also address their fears.”
Forefrontng.com, an online newspaper reports that just as the media briefing was about to commence, armed men arrived the premises of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in three vehicles and started shooting sporadically to disperse the gathering for the media briefing.
In the melee that followed, some workers got badly beaten and injured while a few lucky one were able to escape the attacks from the armed men. Those injured were later conveyed to another hospital for medical attention.
The hoodlums did not stop at attacking people that gathered for the media briefing but extended their destructive capacities to smashing of windows, door glasses, desktops, laptops, phones, ATM cards, files and also carted away the prepared text for the briefing.
The foiled media briefing according to the organisers was to demand a COVID-19 Screening Centre in the state as a means of halting the death rate arising from the pandemic.
One of the doctors told Forefront News that “it is time to expose the series of lies from the Governor Yahaya Bello-led administration on COVID-19 particularly against the backdrop of recent deaths of highly place personalities in the State. How long can we continue to live in lies?”
He further said; “The figures of dead people from COVID-19 in the state are worrisome and alarming. The Chief Judge of the of the State and the President of the State Customary Court of Appeal and others, died from COVID-19 related cases. Their medical records are there for anyone to read.
“In spite of the recorded deaths, Governor Bello still believes that COVID-19 is a hoax meant to deceive people of the North-Central state.”
The doctor, whose name is not in print for security reasons, explained that the media briefing was to also address the myriad of difficulties facing health workers in the state with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the invasion and destruction by the armed men, which lasted for over 30 minutes, personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) stationed at the hospital were unable to confront and contain the hoodlums owing to what one of the NSCDC described as the superior fire power of the armed men.
According to the NSCDC personnel said; “You can see that the guys were well armed and far more in number than the few of us here. Any attempt to challenge them would have been disastrous”.