Ayotunde Akinniyi, a Lagos resident, has accused medical practitioners at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi Araba, Lagos, of negligence in the handling of two accident victims.

Akinniyi told FIJ that in the wee hours of Thursday, he took Tayo Oyedokun and Taofeek Ajose, the victims, to LUTH, but was not allowed to register them as he had no familial relationship with either. Ajose died some hours later.

Akinniyi said he was driving home from work on Wednesday at about 11:30 pm when he met an accident scene on Ikorodu road, between Palmgrove and Onipanu.

According to him, he saw a car under a packed container truck with two occupants battling for their lives. With the help of other witnesses and the police, he was able to convey them to LUTH, where he was told there were no beds.

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“The driver (Oyedokun) had been pulled out of the car before I got to the scene,” Akinniyi recalled. “There were efforts to pull the other guy (Ajose) out, and we succeeded. A police van came with three policemen, and they helped too.

“I suggested taking the victims to a hospital, so the police accompanied us to LUTH. Before we left for the hospital, we called the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), but when I realised they might not respond quickly, I took them myself, while the police in a van marked RRS-442-LA followed.

“We got to LUTH between 12:30 am and 12:45 am on Thursday, but the doctors and nurses refused to grant first aid to the victims, saying they needed to see their family members, and claiming there was no bed to accommodate them.

“When the families of both men eventually came, they were made to pay N9,750 each for the victims, and then register them. The medical personnel then brought out beds after the payment.”

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Akinnnyi said the victims were taken out of his car at about 3 am after they had lost blood. He stayed for one more hour before leaving to return in the evening.

He said he was informed on returning to the hospital that Ajose had died and Oyedokun moved to Reddington hospital by his family.

He said, “I spoke with Oyedokun through his neighbour’s phone, and he told me he earlier heard Ajose pleading for help while doctors and nurses passed by.

“According to him, the boy’s last words, spoken in Yoruba, were ‘Please do not let me to die. Please I can’t breathe properly.'”

When FIJ contacted Pius Ewa, a representative of the public relations office at LUTH, via phone, he said he was unaware of this incident but “we speedily attend to any accident case”.

“We don’t ask for payment when someone brings in an accident victim,” he said.

“I can tell you for sure that when an accident victim is brought in, we don’t just ask for family members. For record purposes, we have to take note of who brings them in. The person should provide some information so we can say this is the person who brought them in.

“I can tell you there’s no way our team of medical personnel will refuse to treat an accident victim.”