Ebola scare: Victim of hit-and-run driver dies in Bayelsa hospital, as nurses flee

A woman described by the authorities of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, as a “victim of a hit-and-run driver,” was abandoned to die in the facility on Tuesday over fear of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

It was gathered that doctors and nurses took to their heels when the woman was rushed to FMC following suspicion that the victim was infected by the virus.

Following refusal by the health workers to attend to the victim, she reportedly died at 11am on Tuesday.

The woman’s demise reportedly fueled rumours in Yenagoa that four persons had died of the virus at the isolated centres in the state.

A senior worker at the hospital, who pleaded anonymity, alleged that the refusal of the doctors on duty to treat the victim caused her death.

He said: “The victim was brought into the casualty ward by two good Samaritans. She was reported to have been hit by a hit-and-run driver along the Sanni Abacha expressway in Yenagoa.

“Instead of treating her due to the bruises and cuts in her body, the doctors refused, claiming it may be Ebola. They refused even when the victim showed pictures from the scene of the accident.

“The woman was brought into the casualty section at 2pm on Monday. She was abandoned and she later died at about 11am on Tuesday.

“Even when the mortuary attendants were asked to take the body to the morgue by Dr. Ogiriki and Dr. Okubo, they refused. They took the body after the intervention of the Head of Administration, Mr. Ogoro Oyondombra. It is a shame.”

The hospital may probe the incident to determine the level of negligence by the health workers.
The FMC and Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH) immediately dismissed as “dangerous” rumours that the woman died of Ebola.

The hospitals also described as wicked, speculations that three people had died of the disease at isolation centres in the state.