Tension flared at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) on Monday as nurses staged a mass protest over the arrest of three colleagues by the Nigeria Police Force following the death of a patient whose personal information was not documented by the hospital.
The demonstration saw over 200 nurses block the main gate of the hospital, effectively halting vehicular movement in and out of the medical facility. The protesters demanded the immediate release of their colleagues, accusing the police of unjustly criminalising what they described as a systemic operational failure.
According to findings by The Nigeria Education News, the arrested nurses were on duty when a patient was brought into the emergency unit by an unidentified good Samaritan. The patient reportedly died before daybreak, and the nurses allegedly failed to document the identity of the individual who brought the patient in, or record the deceased’s personal data.
A nurse who spoke on condition of anonymity explained, “Yesterday, a patient was brought into the hospital by a good Samaritan who even made some payments before leaving. Unfortunately, the patient passed away before dawn. Later, his relatives came and discovered his SIM card was missing. They demanded we provide the missing card or information about the good Samaritan.”
When the nurses could not supply useful information regarding the identity of the person who brought the patient, the family lodged a complaint with the police. Officers from the Cross River State Command subsequently arrived at the hospital and arrested the three nurses who had attended to the deceased.
In a swift response, the protesting nurses marched to the headquarters of the Cross River State Police Command, insisting on the immediate release of their detained colleagues. Their protest disrupted services at the hospital, leaving numerous patients and visitors stranded.
Efforts to obtain an official statement from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital proved abortive, as calls to the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Ikpeme, were not answered.
Amid the protest, some relatives of another deceased individual were reportedly assaulted while attempting to gain access to the hospital’s mortuary. Eyewitnesses claimed the aggrieved nurses physically stopped them from depositing the corpse, citing the ongoing unrest.
In a phone interview, Police Public Relations Officer, SP Irene Ugbo, confirmed the arrests, blaming the nurses for professional negligence. However, the police spokesperson also confirmed that the Commissioner of Police had ordered the release of the arrested nurses at the time this report was filed.
