Mebrim Uchechukwu
18 July 2008
Lagos — Chief Medical Director of National Hospital, Abuja, Dr. Olusegun Ajuwon, his wife, Matron Julie Ajuwon, and five others have been dragged to a Federal High Court for alleged unethical practices by one of the hospital's nurses, Chinansa Doris Ihuoma.
The nurse accused the couple with the other defendants of trying to destroy her life and carrier, urging the court to intervene to save her life and her job.
Other respondents in the suit are National Hospital, Abuja, S.A. Ibrahim and Dr. Patience Ahmed, Dr. Oluwanuga and Dr. Ibrahim Wada.
The aggrieved nurse in a 43-paragraph affidavit in support of a motion on notice which she deposed to herself stated that she did not have any problem with the hospital including the CMD except that on employment in the hospital, he allegedly wanted to go out with her, a request she turned down even with some reasons assumedly understood by the CMD.
The affidavit also noted that the CMD summoned the nurse in his office and offered her fruit juice which she refused to drink immediately and rather told him that he would take it later which resulted in the CMD forcefully taking it away from her.
According to the affidavit, "when I refused to take the fruit juice, the CMD forcefully took the drink from my hand and said that he was declaring me a psychopath and that he was going to treat me as a psychiatric patient. There and then the CMD called other persons including the 3rd to 7th defendants on his phone and some other persons.
"One of the persons he called I later discovered to be Dr. (Mrs.) Ephraim Oluwanuga who came in with an already drawn injection in a syringe filled with an unknown substance. At this stage, I knew that it was a grand conspiracy already concluded against me and I knew that the injection they wanted to give me was not going to be in my favour."
Against the foregoing, the plaintiff is praying the court for an order restraining 2nd to the 7th defendants and their agents from terminating applicant's employment with the 1st defendant, pending the determination of the motion on notice.
She also asked for an order restraining the second to seventh defendants/respondents from further harassing, intimidating, arresting or attempting to arrest the plaintiff for the purpose of injecting the plaintiff with drug or any substances whose content is unknown to the plaintiff pending the determination of the motion on notice.
Besides, she has sought an order of the court restraining defendants by themselves, agents and privies from stopping the salary, benefits and allowances of plaintiff, pending the determination of the motion on notice.
Although the nurse did not say that the substance was finally injected into her body, she disclosed that in the process of struggling with the security, she was 'man-handled and assaulted by the defendants and the security men who stayed in wait at the entrance of the CMD's office to ensure I did not escape the injection."
In some of the letters dated January 11, 2008, already attached to the court processes, Doris was certified mentally fit by one Prof. U.H. Ihezue, Consultant Psychiatrist, Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.
The plaintiff has also petitioned the Nigeria Medical and Dental Council and the Legal Aid Council.
Besides, she noted that her ordeal could be as a result of her "refusal to consent to the illegal removal of one baby Okon from the unit one night while I was on duty, by Mrs. Ajuwon (CMD's wife), Dr. Patience Ahmed and others.
"My refusal to wrongfully feed patients against medical ethics such as feeding a critically ill patient on NG tube with solid food and vegetable soup and my refusal to give clients already drawn injection in a syringe upon directive that I administer same to the patients who did not know the content either.
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