by Adesina Tosin Nathaniel

There was a news report by Punch Newspapers recently, of a protest by patients and their caregivers at the Edo Central Hospital in Benin against alleged robbery and rape in the hospital.

The moment I saw the headline, it immediately caught my attention, screaming the shame of our nation and the collapsed system we are running.

This incident was triviliased by the Edo State government; they claimed that it was a case of theft, as against reports of robbery and rape.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr David Osifor stated that the owner of the stolen money, may have disclosed it to people around her.

He added that the police had commenced an investigation into the incident and promised adequate security measures would be in place to forestall re-occurrence.

The position of the Commissioner is nothing short of a damage control that will not work. He has refused to clarify and answer pertinent questions like why patients and caregivers are protesting over a ‘mere’ theft.

Why has he been silent on the accusation that there was robbery and rape in the gynecology ward?

The ugly incident is highly unacceptable that patients in an hospital will be robbed and raped as alleged by the protesters.

The Edo state government is advised to look into this issue and bring the culprits to book to prevent a re-occurrence.

Azeez