- State Govt Distances Self From Attack…Fingers ‘Aggrieved’ Relatives Of Patients In Hospital
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Gunmen, on Wednesday, attacked the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Lokoja, Kogi state, disrupting a COVID-19 press conference.
The hospital had scheduled a media briefing for the day to demand a COVID-19 screening centre in the state and to also speak about the challenges health workers are facing while treating the disease.
An eyewitness who craved anonymity said dozens of gun-wielding men, wearing plain cloth perpetrated the act.
He claimed that their purpose was to disrupt the meeting which was being held to demand a COVID-19 screening centre in the state
He said, “Dozens of plain-clothed gunmen arrived in three white Hilux vans and started terrorising staff of the Medical Centre, Lokoja who were planning a press conference/protest to pressure FG into establishing a COVID ’19 screening centre in the state.”
Narrating how it all happened, the eyewitness said one of the three vans hemmed the staff in the facility entrance while the other two drove in as the gunmen shot repeatedly into the air to disperse the staff present at the meeting.
He said that the gunmen harassed the health workers and carted away laptops and other vital documents adding that they also destroyed property.
He said, “One van barricaded the hospital entrance while the other two drove in. The gunmen shot repeatedly in to the air to scare the people away, then went to the records and administration departments, where they seized laptops and destroyed a few things. They also ransacked the medical director’s office too.”
According to the source, the hospital associations have told all staff to evacuate the hospital.
The state government, however, debunked the reports that it orchestrated the attack and the disruption of the meeting.
The Kogi state government said the attack at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) on Wednesday was by relatives of patients allegedly abandoned by the hospital staff.
In a statement, Commissioner of Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, said the relatives of the patients only embarked on a protest at the hospital.
“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,” Fanwo said.
“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.” Fanwo said.
Recall that on Tuesday, Governor of the state, Yahaya Bello said Nigerians are being made to accept the reality of COVID-19 “by force”.
He said the virus was created to “shorten the lifestyle of the people”, while asking residents not to accept what he described as “cut and paste COVID-19″.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has so far announced three cases of COVID-19 in Kogi, but the state government has insisted that the state is free of the disease.
It has repeatedly accused the NCDC of manufacturing COVID-19 cases in Kogi.
But despite consistently calling the disease a hoax the state government said on Monday that it had partnered the United States Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) to set up a reference molecular laboratory for COVID-19 tests.
