The management National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos State [NOHIL] has reportedly detained the remains of one Adeboye Adenitan over his family’s inability to pay an outstanding bill of N1,577,945.
WuzupNigeria reports that Adenitan, an automobile mechanic, sustained severe burns to his head, face, arms and laps after a gas explosion at his place of residence in the Gberigbe area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
On the fateful day, the father of two was said to have returned home after the day’s work and decided to cook dinner but when he went inside his room to get something, he became tired and slept off. Waking up sometime in the middle of the night, Adenitan decided to continue with the cooking but when he lit the gas cooker, the kitchen erupted in smoke.
His neighbours rushed him to a nearby hospital from where he was referred to the NOHIL where he died on 7 April 2020.
Now, his grieving family cannot bury him nor mourn him accordingly as his corpse remained in the custody of the NOHIL over an outstanding N1.5m.
Speaking in the Punch report, the brother of the deceased, Oluwatobiloba, 27, said his sibling’s remains had been in NOHIL ‘detention’ for over two months.
He pleaded with the hospital management to release Adenitan’s corpse on compassionate grounds, saying the family had no means to raise the outstanding N1.5m.
He added that his brother died despite the family spending a lot of money to keep him alive.
“We are pleading with the management to release his corpse to us on compassionate grounds as we have no money. When he died, they calculated the bill and deducted the amount we had spent and told us that we had an outstanding of N1.5m to settle before his corpse could be released. I have written two letters pleading with the hospital management to release my brother’s corpse that has been in their custody for two months,” Oluwatobiloba was quoted by The Punch Newspaper as saying.
“We were told to get a police report, but when I went to the Onipanu Police Station for the report, the Deputy Crime Officer told me to pay N20,000 for it. He told me that the family didn’t report the incident and that the money would make him to write a report that the station was aware of the case.
“The secretary of the hospital also told us to come with some money alongside the report. We don’t know where to get money from because we have spent all we have on his treatment.”
Adenitan’s grieving mom also added her voice to the plea, saying,
“After the explosion, he was rushed to a nearby hospital in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, from where he was referred to the NOHIL, where he died on April 7, 2020. My son’s corpse has not been released since then because the hospital management asked us to pay the outstanding bill, but I am pleading with them to release his corpse on compassionate grounds because we have spent all we have on his treatment and we no longer have money.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the hospital, Ayo Adenike, said,
“From our records, they made an initial deposit of N500,000, out of which our medical social services assisted them in raising the sum of N400,000; so, they only paid N100,000 into the hospital’s account as a family. They owed the hospital the sum of N1,577,945.”
When asked if the outstanding payment was the reason why the hospital refused to release the corpse despite the family’s plea, Adenike said,
“It is because they still owe.”
Punch
