Akhile (43), a father of three, has been
weighed down by the death of his wife ,
Elizabeth, and his inability to bury her
remains.
This is because the remains of the woman who
died in 2011 are being 'detained' at the mortuary
of Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo
State.
Akhile, who together with his late wife hail from
Ugbegun, in Esan North East, Edo State, started
the battle to save her life in Lagos in 2011, when
she took ill and was taken to Plateau Hospital,
on Agege Motor Road.
She was placed on admission for one month.
The battle to save his wife's life, however, ended
at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, where she
died on August 2011. At this point, Akhile, a
driver by profession, had exhausted his finances
and lost his job with a female senior naval
officer in Abuja.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH on his
predicament, Akhile said he remained in the
village till January 2012, before returning to
Lagos to raise money for outstanding services
received at ISTH. Meanwhile, the bill continued
to pile, with the daily N1, 000 fee charged by the
hospital mortuary unit, for keeping Elizabeth's
remains.
Akhile, who said he paid N120, 000 at ISTH, but
was unable to carry on, is pleading that the
hospital waive their fee, to allow him bury his
late wife.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the widower
said he wrote for a waiver in April 2012. But by
May 2013, when the bill had risen to over
N500,000, the hospital's authorities asked him
to defray part of the amount before they could
look into the matter.
Akhile said, "She (wife) became ill in 2011, I took
her to Plateau Hospital, Agege Motor Road in
Lagos. I paid N20, 000 and she became okay.
This was after I paid for other charges and later
she was admitted for one month. After
discharge, the sickness came up again. I took her
to LASUTH almost dead, after a day, they
referred us to General Hospital, Ile-Epo, where
she was on admission for about three weeks,
after which we were referred to LUTH.
"In Ile-Epo, they listed some foods she should
eat and advised her to stay on fruits, unripe
plantain and vegetable and amala. The sickness
they said could be diabetes, TB or pneumonia,
and that was why I came. When my money got
exhausted, in my two bank accounts, I took them
(late wife and children) home, to Ugbegun. I was
working with a naval officer (woman), in Abuja,
and by this time, she said she had employed
someone else.
"My sister-in-law took Elizabeth to Irrua
Specialist, after which they called me. I stayed
with her running here and there. At Irrua
(hospital), for two weeks, she could not eat, she
could not drink, and was placed on oxygen. After,
the doctor called and said they would take her
somewhere and I agreed. She came out and
everything appeared well; I even called Lagos,
and my wife talked with my neighbours.
"Later, the doctor said she needed blood and by
this time I was empty; all my money had run
out. On August 31, 2011, because she was
moaning, she vomited all over me and gave up.
That was the last. I remained in the village till
January 2012, before I returned to Lagos, to
raise money."
Akhile said he was able to defray part of the bill
in 2011, but could no longer continue, while
more bills piled.
He said, "Everyday, the mortuary bill is N1, 000.
I paid up to N120, 000 before I could no longer
continue. On April 2, 2012, I wrote a letter of
waiver, in order for me to remove my late wife's
body. They replied that I should pay N80, 000,
failing which I would not be allowed to remove
the body.
I pleaded, but to no avail.
"The letter they wrote, I wanted to go for it, so
that I can use it as evidence when I meet those
that will assist me. But on the day I went, the
hospital staff were on strike."
When contacted about the development, on
Monday, the Chief Medical Director, ISTH, Prof.
George Akpede, said he would not comment on
what he did not know about.
He said, "I cannot comment on what I don't
know about, visit the hospital and get details of
these."
A visit to Irrua was to highlight the challenging
situation in which the hospital might have found
itself in, particularly in Akhile's case.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, an
employee of the hospital explained the difficulty
that might result if people don't come forward to
claim the corpses of departed relations before a
given period.
He said it might be difficult for management to
write off debts incurred by such persons. He said
the issue of money or release of a corpse was not
the exclusive preserve of the hospital
management. He further explained that the
hospital reserved the right to bury those long
abandoned in the hospital mortuary.
He said, "There is a standing law that if you don't
come for your deceased person in the mortuary
for a given period of time, we have the
prerogative to come and assess and accord such
burial, because the mortuary facility will no
longer be enough to cater to the service of others
in need of mortuary, hence we call the local
government to come and give them a mass
burial.
"That is after our legal department must have
had clearance from the local government and the
court. If he (Akhile) has somebody there and he
does not have fund, he should write the hospital
for a waiver."
When told of efforts by the distraught widower
in that regard, the source said revenue issues
were not for management alone to decide.
He said, "All we do is being looked into by
external auditors from the Federal Ministry of
Health; they are revenue issues."
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