Lagos Govt Abandon Injured Pupils Of Ojodu Grammar School In Hospital With Broken Bones

Two victims of the gory accident involving pupils of Ojodu Grammar School, which took place on Ogunnusi Road, along Ogba-Ojodu axis on December 7, currently lie helpless in the orthopaedic ward of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Fourteen-year-old Nimotallai Oladimeji, a Senior Secondary School 2 student, and Nafisat Amusan are currently battling to stay alive after being left with crushed waist and hip bones, and deep cuts on their bodies during the accident, which recorded two deaths and injuries to other victims.

SaharaReporters exclusively gathered that the two young girls, whose conditions are critical, have been abandoned at the hospital since the incident by the Lagos State Government despite their situation requiring emergency surgical interventions.

Doctors at the hospital, who have only been administering painkillers and drips on the girls, claim to be waiting for some equipment to be provided by the state government before being able to carry out necessary surgeries on the victims.
Even though X-ray results for the girls’ fatal injuries, which left them with protruding bones and totally immobilised, were released eight days ago, nothing significant is currently being done to save their lives. Day and night – the victims writhe in pain and agony.

According to a source at the hospital, the girls stand the risk of picking up infections that could further complicate their health situation if the state government continues to abandon them at the place without approving urgent necessary surgeries to be carried out on them.

SaharaReporters further learnt that Amusan’s younger brother, who is also a victim of the accident, had been in a coma at the Intensive Care Unit of LASUTH since the incident with his chances of survival still uncertain as a result of the nonchalant attitude of the state officials.

Efforts by some old students of Ojodu Grammar School to intervene in the girls’ condition by moving them to a private hospital for immediate surgeries have also been blocked by some officials of Lagos, it was reliably gathered.

“Though the government promised to take adequate care of these children, they have since left them in agony with doctors administering only pain killers on them since that incident despite the urgency their cases require.
“I made several efforts to speak with one of the senior doctors at the hospital if we can raise funds for their treatment so as to lessen the pain they are going through, but the doctor didn’t say anything for fear of being sanctioned by the state government.

“The doctors are endlessly waiting for the government’s approval to carry out surgical operations on the girls while the victims suffer in agony.

“The best the doctors have done so far since receiving the X-ray results last week Thursday was to give them pain killers and dress the open leg wounds.

“These children are suffering. They have not received any surgical intervention since the accident. Any further delay could lead to worse consequences on their health,” an old student of the school told SaharaReporters on Friday.

Confirming the worsening state of Oladimeji and Amusan’s health condition, a relative of one of the victims told SaharaReporters that doctors said they were expecting equipment from the state government, scheduled to arrive next week and that without it, no surgeries can be performed on the girls.

“Every one of us is worried about the girls’ conditions. Nimota is the most affected of the two of them, Nofisat also has issues with her hip bone from the accident.

“The doctors have only been giving them painkillers and also drips and blood. They are saying they cannot do anything more until the state government responds by bringing in the equipment they asked for.

“We are afraid because if there is too much delay, it could lead to amputation for the children and we don’t want that to happen,” the source said.

Management of LASUTH declined comments when our correspondent reached out to them over the issue on Friday.
However, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, said government has been giving the victims the best medical care and that “nobody has been abandoned”.
He said there are about five of the students whose cases are critical, insisting that the state government has ensured that they all get the needed attention.
On December 7, around 3:00pm, a speeding truck, which had lost control after trying to evade arrest by Vehicle Inspection Officers at Grammar School Bus Stop, Ogunnusi Road, rammed into dozens of students of Ojodu Grammar School making their way home after the close of school.

Enraged by the death of their schoolmates and friends, students of the school went on rampage, destroying trucks, cars and other valuables around the scene of the accident.

The situation led to tension in the area with policemen later drafted to the place to restore order.

A day after the incident, the Lagos State Government ordered the closure of Ojodu Grammar School, Babs Fafunwa Millennium Junior Grammar School, Ojodu Junior Grammar School, and Ojodu High School, all within the same compound.

Some of the injured victims were taken to God’s Apple City Hospital, Royan Hospital, St. Michael Hospital and Lagos State Emergency Centre, Toll Gate, Ojota, for treatment while the deceased persons, identified as Adedoyin Adebayo and Akpolebi Israel, were moved to the morgue of Mainland Hospital, Yaba.

Going by the current nonchalant posture of the state government, the three victims of the accident at LASUTH – Oladimeji, Amusan and her brother – might face further risk of amputation or even death except the Lagos State Government fulfills promises of comprehensive care earlier made in the aftermath of the tragedy.

SOURCE: SAHARA REPORTERS