According to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), anyone who assaults, beats up or otherwise threatens a hospital employee will be detained and prosecuted going forward.
This was confirmed on Wednesday by Mrs Elizabeth Ajiboye, the Director of the Corporate Affairs Unit at UITH, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin.
She said: “An extant case was that of a male patient admitted into the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Wing of the UITH on 27th December 2022.
“The patient in question was one of such cases presented to the hospital late and with severe complications.
“Nevertheless, the health workers on duty, especially doctors, swung into action but while battling with his life, he convulsed.
“He was stabilised from that stage, prompting the doctors to take over another case requiring an emergency attention,” she said.
The UITH spokesperson explained further that three of the patient’s relations pounced on one of the doctors on duty, pinned him to the wall, and punched him severally, but he managed to escape from them.
“This led to the arrest of one of the patient’s relatives by the security operatives attached to the hospital.
“As at the time of this report, this person is still under the watch of the security personnel while the other two are being searched for.
“Just as these workers had sworn to protect the lives of their patients, their own lives should not be endangered.
“Therefore, the Management through the law enforcement agents has resolved to henceforth commence the arrest and prosecution of anyone irrespective of their status, threatening the lives of any of the workers of UITH in the course of their duties.
“Legal action will also henceforth be taken against such unruly relatives of our patients,” she concluded.
