Officers of the Nigeria Police Force enforcing COVID-19 curfew in Lagos State have been accused of causing the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn baby for allegedly delaying a surgeon who was supposed to operate the woman.
According to reports, the woman died in pain while waiting for the doctor who was reportedly held for about an hour on Airport Road, Ikeja, Lagos State, for allegedly breaching the Covid-19 curfew.
Bibian Anekwe News learnt that the doctor had told the security men that she was on an emergency call but was held back by the officers who shunned her pleas.
Moments later, the surgeon was allowed to go but unfortunately the pregnant mother and her unborn child were already dead before her arrival at the hospital, Bibian Anekwe News understands.
The pregnant mother whose name is revealed as Mistura reportedly gave up the ghost on Monday, August 31, 2020, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba, Surulere.
According to an witness who disclosed the incident to newsmen, the doctor broke down in tears after seeing Mistura lifeless and she could not do anything to save her and the unborn baby at that moment.
“The doctor is a woman. In fact, she was also ill and was placed on a drip at home when she was called for the emergency,” the witness said.
“Because her car was bad, she got a cabman to take her to the hospital. She left her house around past 9pm.
“Around 10.15pm, they got to the under bridge around Airport Road, where they met the policemen. They had been stopped by other policemen before they got to that spot. But when she showed them her ID card, they allowed her to pass.
“But these ones refused. After she showed one of them her ID card and said she was on an emergency to see a patient who was between life and death, the policeman ordered the driver to park. He took her ID card and asked her to prove she was on an emergency.
“She went to meet another member of the team and begged him that she needed to leave immediately and that the life of her patient was at risk. She was in a nightgown; she could not even change when she got the call. But the second policeman shunned her.
He added, “The policeman said she was foolish and she was a prostitute because a doctor would never dress the way she was dressed. She begged them and explained the circumstances but they refused to listen and demanded the emergency letter.”
“There were four policemen on duty that night. Only one was on mufti. Their tags were not visible because they wore overalls. They saw the drip in the doctor’s hand; she was risking her life to save another person but they never allowed her.”
