UCTH: Protest rocks Calabar over arrest of 3 nurses by Police

CALABAR—Nurses of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Calabar, UCTH, yesterday, protested the arrest of three of their colleagues by men of the Nigeria police after a patient died in the hospital facility without the nurse recording the data of the deceased.

The nurses, who came out in their numbers marched to the gate of the UCTH and barricaded the gate, preventing vehicular movement into and out of the hospital.

We gathered that the three nurses were arrested following the death of a patient, who the police accused of failing to provide information about, an act the police tagged as negligence of duty.

No fewer than 200 nurses came out and blocked the entrance to the hospital preventing visitors from accessing the facility.
One of the protesting nurses, who pleaded anonymity, said: “A patient was brought into the hospital by a Good Samaritan and made some payments for his treatment before leaving.

Unfortunately, the patient died before it was dawn and relatives of the patient stormed the facility upon hearing that their relative, who was on admission in our facility had died and they discovered that the deceased’s SIM card was missing.

“The family members demanded that the nurses provide the missing card or details of the Good Samaritan be provided.

“When they discovered that the nurses were unable to give useful information to that effect, they ran to the police, who stormed the hospital and arrested three nurses, who attended to the deceased.”

To demand the unconditional release of their colleagues, the nurses also marched to the Command Headquarters of the Cross River State Police.

The protest disrupted medical activities at the hospital as some patients were locked out and efforts to speak with the management were also futile.

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Irene Ugbo, blamed the nurses on duty for negligence.

“How can trained nurses admit a patient into the hospital facility without taking data from the Good Samaritan, who brought the patient into the hospital, it’s unethical,” Ugbo queried.

She, however, said that the Commissioner of Police had instructed that the arrested nurses be released immediately.