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Two health assistant trainees in Enugu State, Makuochukwu Eze and Joy Ezeugwu, have been suspended indefinitely over a viral video in which they complained about the poor condition of a hospital in the state.
The hospital, Uwani Health Centre, is also known as Uwani General Hospital.
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In a video clip which surfaced on social media in late March, Mses Eze and Ezeugwu, who were on clinical posting at the clinic, lamented that the facility was battling scarcity of basic amenities such as water and power supply.
“We’re on duty, and it’s night duty, and I can’t believe that in a hospital like this, there’s no water, there’s no light (power supply), everywhere is littered. There’s no cleaner,” Ms Ezeugwu said, gesturing with her hands in front of the facility.
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“Mosquitoes are everywhere here. I don’t know what the government is doing about it.”
Ms Eze, on her part, corroborated Ms Ezeugwu, pointing out that the hospital was in a terrible state and that its environment was not conducive.
“There’s a woman currently in labour, and there’s no light,” Ms Eze said. “There’s no oxygen either.”
“What if there’s complications? What do we do?” Ms Ezeugwu wondered.
The clip showed that the clinic and its surroundings were in total darkness.
Suspension
The health workers were later suspended indefinitely for the comments in the clip, which has now gone viral.
“I am the girl that posted about the hospital at Uwani. Sadly, I was given an indefinite suspension.
“Now, I have been removed from my clinical duties,” Ms Ezeugwu said in another clip circulating on social media.
She did not indicate the authority that issued the suspension order.
The health worker said she did not post the video to attack the government or paint them in a bad light.
“I only did that to bring the situation (of the clinic) to their attention,” she stated.
She added that after the video went viral, authorities quickly restored power to the clinic and resumed renovations of the facility.
“I am so broken, Nigerians. I didn’t know that my goodness would result in my being punished so badly,” Ms Ezeugwu said, crying profusely.
‘It’s internal disciplinary measure,’ College speaks
Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the health workers were indefinitely suspended by their school, Ezzy Healthcare Training College, a privately owned institution in Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The college is headquartered in California, US.
The Ezzy International College of Nursing Sciences, which is in Enugu State, is affiliated with the training college.
The management of Ezzy International College of Nursing Sciences, in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Thursday, confirmed that the suspended health workers were students of its affiliate institution, Ezzy Healthcare Training College.
“Miss Stella Makuochukwu Eze and Mrs Joy Chisimdili Ezeugwu are students of Ezzy Healthcare Training College undergoing their 18 months programme to obtain a health care assistance/technician qualification,” it said.
The Ezzy International College of Nursing Sciences, in another post on Saturday, rejected the public criticism of the US-based institution for the suspension of the students.
“It is baffling why a standard internal disciplinary action has been dragged onto social media.
”We must reject these baseless negative perceptions aimed at tarnishing the institution’s reputation,” it wrote on Facebook.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted the college through its official mobile number on Saturday.
An official of the institution declined to speak on the matter when our reporter enquired about it.
“I don’t want to speak on this issue,” the official said, before dropping the call immediately.
Enugu govt speaks
Before now, many Nigerians, particularly on social media, have repeatedly linked the Enugu State Government to the suspension of the students.
But in a statement on Saturday, the Commissioner for Information in Enugu State, Malachy Agbo, denied the government’s involvement in the suspension of Ms Eze.
Mr Agbo, who was silent on the fate of Joy Ezeugwu, said Ms Eze was suspended by her institution “due to a breach of her institution’s code of conduct, an internal administrative matter within a private institution.”
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The commissioner stressed that the Enugu State Government has no connection to the suspension of the health worker.
“The government is not involved in the internal affairs or disciplinary processes of the private college and is only conveying information as made available to it,” he said.
The official, however, said the state government has engaged the college and other authorities in response to the concerns raised by the student nurses in the viral video.
“Concurrently, the rehabilitation of general hospitals is ongoing, including secondary healthcare facilities such as Uwani General Hospital, where the reported incident occurred,” he said.
Mr Agbo then stressed that Governor Peter Mbah’s administration has recorded giant strides in the health sector to reposition healthcare delivery in the state.
The commissioner said, for instance, that the government would soon roll out the 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) built across wards in addition to the recruitment of 2,250 healthcare workers to strengthen PHC services in the state.
“The government encourages residents to utilise healthcare facilities within their communities and reaffirms its openness to constructive feedback,” he said.
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