…Parents seek investigation into the cause of death
…Blame UNIMED’s management for lackadaisical attitude
…Demand autopsy on the deceased children
…Seek Governor’s intervention for justice
By Miracle Ogunde
The deaths of a grandmother and four children in Akure, believed to have resulted from food poisoning, have been blamed on the alleged negligence of the management at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMED), Akure Branch.
Starnews NG gathered that the family lost five members, mostly children, while a survivor recounted his ordeal. In an interview with Starnews NG, the parents of the deceased children expressed deep grief over the irreparable loss.
The tragic incident, which took place in Gaga, Akure, Ondo State, has sparked reactions from various quarters. The children were aged 9, 8, 6, and 3 years, while their grandmother, Mrs. Esther Adeola, was 68 years old.
Although the exact cause of the deaths is yet to be confirmed, food poisoning from eating cooked pap has been suspected. Mr. Ademola Adeola, who lost his three children, shared his painful experience and expressed bitterness at the situation.
According to him, the children ate the pap prepared by their grandmother, who also consumed it herself. Mrs. Adeola died a few days later, after suffering from severe vomiting and being rushed to the hospital.
Starnews NG learnt that two days after their grandmother’s death, the children began experiencing severe complications, starting with stomach aches and vomiting after consuming the same pap. They were rushed to the University Medical Centre, UNIMED in Akure, where the first doctor who attended to them instructed the parents to give the children palm oil, claiming it would detoxify the poison.
However, after administering the palm oil, the children’s condition worsened, and they began vomiting profusely. The parents told Starnews NG that they then took the children to another hospital, “Mother and Child,” in Akure, where their conditions stabilised.
Further investigations revealed that Mother and Child Hospital referred the children back to UNIMED due to a lack of proper facilities to treat them. At UNIMED, a second doctor, who took over the case, administered an injection that allegedly had a negative reaction on the children, worsening their condition. The children could no longer be controlled, and it took the efforts of several men to restrain them.
The parents blamed the loss of their four children on negligence and unprofessional conduct by the medical personnel at UNIMED.
“The pap the children ate was poisoned, and I rushed them to UNIMED in Akure. The doctor on duty questioned whether I was certain they were poisoned and advised me to take them home and give them red oil. Since I knew little about health issues, I followed his advice,” Mr. Adeola said.
“Around 6-7pm that Saturday, the children began vomiting even more severely. We took them to Mother and Child Hospital, where they were attended to, but on the second day, we were told they would be referred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owo. Arrangements were made, but the staff later decided that one of the children, Ireoluwa, wouldn’t survive the journey to Owo. So, they referred us back to UNIMED in Akure.”
Mr. Adeola explained that at UNIMED, the doctor initially attending to the children did his best but later handed over to another doctor, who administered an injection that caused an adverse reaction.
“After the injection, one of my children said he felt something entering his body but didn’t know where it was going. Immediately, they all started reacting abnormally. The doctor said it was just a normal reaction to the injection, but soon after, Inioluwa could no longer control himself.”
Mr. Adeola recounted that the doctor tied one of the children to the bed with a bandage, and he strongly believed that the injection was responsible for their deaths.
“I also noticed that the second doctor kept checking his phone during treatment, unlike the first doctor, who stayed with the children and monitored them closely. The second doctor would only come out when called in for emergencies, and I overheard him complaining on the phone that he didn’t know what to do next.”
The grieving father expressed his disappointment with the UNIMED management for their alleged lack of response and poor treatment of patients. He also criticised the hospital for the way they handled his son’s body after he passed away.
Temiloluwa Adeola, the only adult survivor of the incident, also recounted how he was neglected at UNIMED and had to seek treatment at a private hospital.
The parents have appealed to the state government to set up an investigative panel to uncover the cause of their children’s deaths.
“We’re appealing to the state government and Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to investigate this case. The hospital’s management treated us like nobodies, and we need answers,” Mr. Adeola said.
In response, the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Ondo State, Dr Muyiwa Alonge, stated that he had not yet been briefed on the incident. He suggested that the parents should have reported the matter to the hospital management first.
“Facilities to test pap for poisoning aren’t readily available here. It can only be done in Lagos,” Dr Alonge noted.
While the deceased children have since been buried, the cause of their deaths remains uncertain as the results of the samples taken for analysis have yet to be disclosed. UNIMED’s management has not responded to the incident as at the time of filing this report.
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