‘We’ll look into this immediately’ — Health Minister reacts to undercover investigation on ‘Yaba Left’

Osagie Ehanire, minister of health, says the decrepit state of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos will be investigated.

Ehanire made this known via Twitter, on Wednesday.

This comes after an investigationby Fisayo Soyombo, an undercover journalist, exposing the rot in theneuropsychiatric hospital.

“This will be looked into immediately,” he tweeted.

This will be looked into immediately https://t.co/UbLQKPsTRm

— Osagie Ehanire (@OsagieEhanire) January 22, 2020

Soyombo went undercover as a patient of the neuropsychiatric hospital to reveal the rot in one of Nigeria’s mental institutions.

He spent 10 days on admission in the hospital tracking corruption at the centre — after going in as a drug addict requiring rehabilitation.

He documented his experiences on the failed rehabilitation programme, on corrupt officials as well as the low quality of service delivery at the facility.

Soyombo recorded the difficulties involved in securing a bed space and having to pay a bribe to get one.

Quoting a medical doctor at the hospital, he was told that the centre does not have a well-developed rehabilitation centre as a patient may go for days without seeing a psychologist.

He also narrated how the hospital was infested with big rats and mosquitoes that could cause outbreak of diseases, and the unpalatable food that patients are served despite paying a high cost for feeding.