FOLLOWING the tragic death of a medical doctor at Odan general hospital, Lagos Island, some health workers have since gone on social media, testifying on the poor state of the elevator, which has been ongoing for over three years.

Diaso Vwaere, a medical doctor, lost her life on Tuesday, August 1, when the hospital’s elevator abruptly malfunctioned, plummeting from the ninth floor to the ground level.

Despite the crash, Vwaere’s body was hanging on a part of the elevator, fighting for her life, while it took the elevator engineers about an hour to arrive at the building and helped her out.

The hospital was, according to sources, devoid of the necessary blood for her resuscitation.

Vwaere was said to be on her way to meet a dispatch rider, who had come to deliver her food when the incident happened.

A doctor, Lase Moye, giving the account of the incident on Twitter, revealed that after the elevator crashed, the bystanders could hear her excruciating screams of pain as her forehead and other part of her body had a cut. Vware, at the moment, was said to be lying between the base of the elevator and the ground floor with the engine hanging over her.

“Called on professional engineers to come and dismantle it because any abrupt movement could let the elevator give. It took almost 40 mins for them to get there, initially, they sent representatives to dismantle it, and these guys came dressed in suit, suit? Really? when the day is over. Lol! They were at VI, VI is literally 15 mins to Marina or less. What took them so long?” Moye who in  a separate post said she lives above Vweare explained.

The state of the hospital elevator has been a longstanding issue. The ICIR gathered that health workers and patients have been groaning over its bad condition for over three years.

The elevator had inadvertently stopped working on different occasions, even while carrying people. According to sources, the elevator capacity was reduced from carrying eight people to two when it started developing faults.

Another medical Doctor, Olanrewaju Aiyepola, said the incident was due to the negligence of the hospital management, saying that instead of repair of the elevator, the management always chose to patch it up.

“Particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve manoeuvred, managed and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it….till it killed one of us,” Aiyepola wrote.

“We called for repairs; they’d do intermittent patching and ask us to manage it. Low-key, we lived in fear waiting for the next time we’d get stuck in the elevator. For an elevator that had a maximum capacity of 8 persons, it could only take one at a time.”

In a tweet seen by The ICIR, Medical Guard, an association of all Lagos State Medical and Dental Doctors, in 2020,  tweeted about the non-functionality elevator of the hospital.

“FACT: The doctors quarters at General Hospital Lagos has 10 floors. It has a non-functional elevator and no running water. Doctors who live on the 10th floor, including pregnant women, climb the stairs multiple times daily.”

More testimonies

As news of the tragic death broke, some employees and patients have come forward, sharing their experiences of the elevator’s longstanding issues.

They all agreed that the elevator has been in a state of disrepair for several years, and some of them have experienced being trapped inside it in the past. Amidst these testimonies, some also accused the hospital management of negligence, misappropriation of priority and corruption in dealings with the hospital affairs. 

The Bearded_Dr_Sina, a doctor who is popular on Twitter, while reacting to the incident, said he and his friend experienced a near-death situation on the same elevator three years ago.

“For context, three years ago, I also had the same experience on this elevator. I remember I and my friend panicking when the elevator got stuck. People have been calling for it to get fixed for three years. Now it has killed a Doctor. A Deep probe needs to be done. This can’t slide.”

Another hospital person who is most likely a staff of the hospital, Joy wrote “I got stuck in the elevator.  We didn’t have a functioning pumping machine. We had to walk over those 10 floors to fetch water. I told us to strike, they sent screenshots of my message to the Oga, and he said I was a nuisance and I should go into politics if I wanted to fight.”

Colleagues stage protest

In reaction to their colleague’s death, some young hospital workers at the Odan general hospital staged a protest regarding the unfortunate death of their colleague on Tuesday. 

The workers also shut down activities of the general hospital and demanded justice over the incident. They walked down the street of the general hospital to show their displeasure.

In a viral video seen by The ICIR, the young doctors, clad in black, fiercely chanted towards the hospital directors’ who’s going to jail.’

The staff workers also raised placards with different inscriptions to demand for justice. In one of the placards seen by The ICIR, a doctor wrote; ‘the system is rigged against young doctors.”

Another doctor wrote, ‘it could have been me. “Let Doctors breathe! Dr Vwaere couldn’t breathe.”

NMA declares strike, demands justice 

In a show of solidarity and call for justice, the Lagos state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has declared a strike over a colleague’s death.

The doctors’ body directed doctors working in the three government hospitals on Lagos Island to begin an indefinite strike over the death of its colleague, Vwaere Diaso.

The NMA also proclaimed five days of national mourning in the state and asked medical staff at other government-run institutions to curtail their regular schedules in remembrance of the deceased colleague.

According to the association, only emergency medical services will be rendered during that period.

The Lagos Island Maternity Hospital, the Lagos General Hospital, and the Lagos Massey Street Children’s Hospital are all expected to go on an indefinite strike.

NMA stated this in a press statement signed by its state Chairman, Benjamin Olowojebutu, and Secretary, Ismail Ajibowo, on Wednesday, August 2.

The association said the death was unfortunate, and her death pains the NMA.

“We declare a five-day statewide mourning period; we demand an immediate, unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident; all those found culpable in this matter, especially the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Management Agency, Ms Adenike Adekambi, are all brought to justice.”

In addition, the doctors association said the blood transfusion system in Lagos State needs immediate revamping for improved service.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has reacted to the doctor’s death in a statement on its official Twitter handle on Wednesday, August 2.

In the statement, the government consoled the deceased’s family and said it has set up an inquiry to investigate the incident.

“An inquiry by a team of officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Lagos State Safety Commission and certified Lift and Vertical Transportation Equipment experts has commenced,” the Lagos state government said.

Mustapha USMAN

Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M