Olisa Agbakoba and the family of the late Peju Ugboma, a Lagos-based chef, has accused Premier Specialist Medical centre, Lekki of negligence and unprofessional conduct leading to her untimely demise.
Ugboma, 41, was reported to have died on April 25 at the Premier Specialist Hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos, after undergoing an elective hysterectomy surgery.
In a press conference on Wednesday in Lagos, Agbakoba, who is lead counsel in the case, said that having been briefed by the family of the deceased, he had taken steps to request an inquest to determine the cause of the death.
He said his law firm had already requested an independent autopsy for which the report was awaited, while petitions had been sent to the office of the Attorney General of Lagos State, the Consumers Protection Council, Nigeria Medical Association and state House of Assembly amongst others.
Agbakoba said that a petition to the Homicide Department of the Nigeria Police, Panti was also under consideration.
According to him, “We have also sent a letter to the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Health Facilities, Monitoring and Accreditation Agency, requesting an inspection of the hospital’s facilities as well as requesting a temporary closure of the hospital.
“We request an inspection of the hospital’s facilities, as well as a confirmation of the hospital’s licence and accreditation to perform a major operation.
“Hysterectomy is a major surgery carrying the possibility of blood clots, severe infections, haemorrhage, bowel obstruction or urinary tract injury.
“Premier Hospital had no CT scan equipment and blood bank when it carried out the operation on the chef. A thorough investigation of Ugboma’s death will be conducted; doctors ought to be held accountable for medical negligence and malpractices”.
Peju’s husband, Ijoma said that she had no pre-existing medical conditions to have developed post-surgery complications that led to her death, stressing that she died in unclear and suspicious circumstances at the Evercare hospital.
He called for a thorough investigation into her death, which would also lead to a reform of the health system in the country.
Within the last few days, more than 3,000 people have signed an online petition urging the Lagos State government and the Ministry of Health to investigate the untimely death of Ugboma.
