Thursday, 17 April 2014

Nyanya bomb blast victims face hunger in hospital - report

According to a report by Premium Times, some victims of Monday's bomb blast receiving medical attention at the Asokoro General Hospital in Abuja are currently facing hunger as no one is providing them with food.
 
One of the survivors, Salome Jim, told Premium Times that she's only received drugs and drips from the hospital management but no one has given her anything to eat.
"I have been sitting down here waiting for surgery. I am in pain, I am very hungry. No one has come here to give me food, I can neither walk nor move, the nurses and doctors are nice to me but they didn’t give me food. The nurse said she will come and attend to me at 9:30 am this morning and this is 9 o’ clock so I am waiting, but when I came here yesterday they took care of me, I didn’t pay for anything, but they didn’t give us food. I went to bed with an empty stomach, the woman inside the ward over there (she pointed) shared her food with me at midnight, as I am here my relatives don't know I am here as I couldn’t find my phone.” She said. Continue...
 
Another survivor, Shuaibu Abubakar, who suffers psychological imbalance and pains in his legs said he had not eaten since Monday when he was brought to the hospital.
"I did not eat anything I was too weak to eat but at midnight I couldn’t sleep out of hunger. The last time I ate was on Sunday evening, but there was no food provision. Some people from the mosque came here to give me bread and tea this morning, the hospital only gave us injections and drips. I am still hungry, broke and with no money.” he said
The Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu during his visit to the Asokoro Hospital was asked by reporters why the victims had not been fed by the hospital. He denied knowledge of that and said the Hospital management would look into it
"The management of the hospitals will go back after my departure to find the true situation and sort it out. All hospitals have been very cooperative this is the main situation.” he said.
An official of the Asokoro General Hospital who spoke anonymously to Premium Times confirmed that the victims were being administered drugs on empty stomachs 
“Some of the victims cannot eat just yet, but some of them who can eat do not have the money to eat, the government can’t only be administering drugs on empty stomachs it can lead to other serious cases. We all tried yesterday but not even a single word of commendations from the government. You people should let Nigerians know the bomb blast victims are hungry and are not fed,” the official said