Four newborn babies have died at the Sapele Central Hospital, Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State, due to a doctor’s alleged negligence, the PUNCH reported.

Patients, family members and visitors at the hospital protested in response to the discovery and criticised the hospital’s administration.

The victims’ families claimed that the doctor on duty was drunk and that there was no power in the hospital.

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Benjamin Ikeji, a relative of one of the grieving mothers, said every woman due for delivery lost her baby in a single night.

“When we brought my sister to this hospital, the doctor told us that it was not yet time for her delivery and I and my sister’s husband waited till 10 pm,” she was quoted to have said.

“At midnight, my sister said the baby was stuck and the nurses couldn’t do anything because the doctor was not around.

“In the morning, I met the doctor, who said there was nothing he could do since they had no light. I bought fuel for them that night before I left, and the next thing I heard was that my sister lost the baby.”

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While grieving the loss of his infant, Newton Oroba, another victim, revealed that his wife had been traumatised by the tragedy.

“The doctor on duty was drunk. We came to the hospital around 9 pm and left, only to come back in the morning [and] my wife said she lost her newborn,” he said.

Upon seeing the doctor, some patients and the relatives of the victims confronted him and demanded an explanation for his absence from duty.

Workers in the hospital refused to respond to reporters’ inquiries.