The Benue House of Assembly, has called on the state’s Ministry of Health to sanction Dr Michael Ijiko, Chief Medical Director, CMD of Foundation Hospital, Makurdi, for allegedly causing the death of a woman.
Mrs Hembadoon Agashua, was alleged to have died at the hospital under suspicious circumstances.
The lawmakers made the call via a motion moved by the Majority Leader, Mr Saater Tiseer, during plenary on Tuesday.
Moving the motion earlier, Tiseer informed the lawmakers that Agashua, who was his constituent went to Foundation Hospital for medical treatment on February 14, after complaining of fever.
He explained that she was admitted and was being infused intravenously while medical tests were carried out.
The lawmaker claimed that the woman showed signs of improvement on February 15, when she sat on her bed and chatted freely with her visitors around 10:00 am.
Tiseer explained that the deceased husband said the nurses came for a ward round around 11:00 am and asked everyone except the patient to leave the ward which they did.
The lawmaker said however, that the deceased’s brother-in-law, who is also a medical doctor, came visiting her two hours after the ward round and discovered that she had died.
He further told the legislators that when the deceased’s relatives approached the hospital to inquire about the cause of death, the CMD informed them that he was a gynaecologist, so he did not have contact with the patient.
He said he had called a specialist from the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Makurdi to attend to her.
Tiseer said the family was asked to come the following day to interface with Ijiko and the specialist, but that the duo never turned up for the meeting
“Ijiko’s younger brother, Dr Eche Ijiko who was around when the deceased family came also told them that he is a paediatrician, so he did not treat the dead patient.
“The specialist was contacted by the deceased family and he admitted being called by Ijiko to come and treat a patient, but he was told before he could come that the woman had died,’’ Tiseer explained.
Benue Assembly calls for prosecution of doctor over suspicious death of woman
