A panel commissioned by Nyesom Wike, the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has released its report regarding the death of Greatness Olorunfemi in a ‘one-chance’ attack in Abuja.
Contrary to earlier reports, the panel revealed that Olorunfemi was not abandoned by the Maitama Hospital where she was taken after the September attack along the Katampe-Kubwa Road in Abuja.
Olorunfemi, who was a victim of vehicle robbers known in common parlance as “one chance”, reportedly bled to death after she was stabbed and thrown out of a moving vehicle, and then allegedly denied medical attention by the Maitama General Hospital with the excuse that there was no police report of the incident.
The incident had gained public attention through a viral video showing Olorunfemi by the roadside, allegedly rejected by the hospital for treatment. On October 4, the FCT Minister constituted a nine-member panel to investigate the death.
In its findings presented in Abuja on Wednesday, the panel stated that the victim was brought into the hospital deceased.
The panel, chaired by Mohammed Mohammed, president of the Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria clarified that Olorunfemi received attention within 40 seconds of her arrival at the hospital, as validated by CCTV footage detailing subsequent care at specific times.
It identified strangulation as a cause of death refuting social media allegations of bleeding as the primary cause.
While acknowledging procedural shortcomings in handling the victim’s body post-mortem due to a lack of morgue space, the panel criticized the Maitama General Hospital staff for not adhering to professional standards during the initial examination.
It knocked the hospital’s failure to use a stretcher in a private Emergency and Accident (E&E) unit, and apologized to the family for the mishandling of Olorunfemi’s remains, emphasizing the need for proper dignity in handling deceased individuals.
