Saad Ahmed, chief medical director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, says the hospital could not save Ifunanya Nwangene, an Abuja-based singer who died after a snakebite, due to her late presentation for urgent medical care.
Nwangene, 26, popularly known as Nanyah, died after
suffering a snakebite at her residence.
Her death sparked outrage on social media and renewed
scrutiny of Nigeria’s emergency healthcare preparedness.
Ahmed spoke on Saturday on the sidelines of the senate
committee on health’s 2026 budget defence session.
The CMD said Nwangene arrived at the hospital more than two
hours after the incident, by which time the venom had already caused systemic
damage.
Ahmed dismissed social media claims that anti-venom was not
administered to the singer on arrival.
“First, I want to extend my condolences to the family and
friends of the deceased, but I would say this is a case of a cobra,” he said.
“Cobra is the most poisonous snake that we know, and time is
of essence from when one gets bitten and then to access that care.
“She presented to our hospital over two hours after she was
bitten by that cobra, and by that time, she had already started manifesting
with some systemic envenomation.
“And contrary to what we see in social media, that we didn’t
have a snake venom, two doses were promptly given.
“First dose was given, where the infusion, after that one,
another dose was given.
“So she had two doses of snake venom, but of course, the
venom had already gone systemic, and we all know the cobra being highly
poisonous.
“If she had presented probably much earlier, within 10 to 15
minutes, usually that’s when anti-venoms become most effective, but she came
over two hours after the deadly incident.”
Ahmed described the incident as a wake-up call for hospitals
that may not be adequately prepared for such emergencies.
“But for FMC Abuja, we had anti-snake venom, all stocked,
and our emergency services are top-notch, and our staff were fully on ground,”
he said.
The CMD also backed calls for the inclusion of state and
private hospitals in the centralised housemanship system for newly graduated
doctors.
Ahmed said expanding the system would help address
inadequate housemanship slots across federal tertiary hospitals.
“Housemanship is a period where young graduates in medicine
go and learn hands-on before they can now go for their NYSC,” he said.
“So the federal hospitals, yes, almost all the federal
tertiary hospitals are actually doing housemanship, but then the quota
allocated is not enough.
“It’s not like a classroom where you come to me and say I’m
giving you 200; it has to be based on the number of beds, specialists, and
facilities available.
“So I think if the state government can key into this
centralised system, it’s going to help a great deal.
“So I think when we have all this centralised, it’s going to
help; what the registrar of the Medical and Dental Council presented yesterday
will just be history.”
FMC had earlier rejected claims that negligence on its part
played a role in the singer’s death.
Following Nwangene’s death on February 3, the senate urged
the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and state governments to
establish coordinated emergency referral and response systems linking public
and private hospitals to improve access to life-saving treatment during medical
emergencies.
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