Rivers varsity students protest death of graduating colleague

There is obvious anxiety at the University of Port Harcourt and the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Rivers State following the death of a graduating student and social media influencer known as Yemitheplug.Information Guide Nigeria

Some UNIPORT students had blocked the entrance to the UPTH in protest of the circumstances surrounding the murder of Yemitheplug, who was a graduating student at the time of his death.

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Yemitheplug, whose true name was Folorunsho Michael, was alleged to have suffered an asthmatic attack in the early hours of the morning and was brought to the UPTH, where he died.

Following his death, his companions, clearly enraged, staged a spur-of-the-moment protest, temporarily blocking the entrance to the teaching hospital, demanding an explanation for how their comrade, who they claimed was transported there alive, ended up dead.

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One of the deceased’s acquaintances, who did not want his name disclosed, claimed that Yemi was not cared to because the staff claimed they did not have Oxygen for him.

The student said, “He was brought in to the UPTH around 4am. When he was in the hospital, the nurse refused to attend to him. They told her (nurse) that he is the son of the Deputy Director of Nursing in the UPTH.

“On hearing that, she (the nurse) was now asking for identification. At this point, his mum came and was now attending to her son and they were trying to resuscitate him.

“One of the nurses there said she should not bother that her son was dead and started holding her back.”

Another student, who also requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, told reporters that he suspected foul play in the patient’s care, despite an official’s allegation that Yemi was already dead when his friends brought him to the hospital.

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“The thing is even without having to speak to them, there are already many differences because what an official is saying is that the patient was brought in dead.

“But categorically we are telling you that that is not what happened. The time of death on the Coroner’s office says 6:02am. But the patient was brought in around 4am.

“If the patient was brought in around 4am and the time of death is 6:02am, you do the deduction yourself,” he said.

He insisted that the nurses did not attend to them until they were informed that he was the son of one of their staff, then one of them came.

“I was at home when I started hearing noise, only to go down and saw Yemi gasping for breath. So, we tried to do our best, and knowing it was an odd hour, we had to rush him to the hospital.

“When we got there, at first somebody just came, pointed torchlight at him and just left us like that.

“When we told that this person the mother works here. That was when they came back. And it took about 15 to 20 minutes before they came back. And they just concluded that he was dead,” he fumed.

Meanwhile, the UPTH administration has expressed condolences to the late Port Harcourt-based social media influencer’s family and friends.

In a statement, the UPTH’s Acting Public Relations Officer, Elabha Meni, said the hospital saw a big turnout of friends who were curious about the circumstances behind the influencer’s death.NYSC portal

Meni stated that management had taken action to determine the true state of affairs, stating that a preliminary report revealed that the patient was brought in dead.

The statement read, “The Management of the UPTH sympathises with friends and family of Folorunsho Michael, also known as Yemitheplug, who passed away in the early hours of today, Tuesday, 29th November 2022.

“The Hospital has witnessed a large turnout of friends who have been asking to know the circumstances which led to his death.

“Management has begun actions to ascertain the true position of things. Preliminary report is that the Patient was brought in Dead (BID). However, management will investigate and attend to the matter appropriately.

“We sincerely empathise with the mother who is also one of us, a Deputy Director in our Nursing Department.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the incident on a popular Radio station in Port Harcourt, monitored by our correspondent on Wednesday morning, the Chairman, UPTH Medical Advisory Committee, Prof. Lucky Onotai, also said an investigation would be launched.JAMB portal

“Three hours ago, I got a call from the head of Nursing who told me that there is a particular patient that was brought in dead into the Emergency.

“And the story was that the student had an asthmatic attack while in his lodge and that the inhaler didn’t work. Before they could rush the student to the A and E (Accident and Emergency), it was confirmed that he was already dead.

“So, at that point she got the report and escalated it to me. And what I did immediately was to call the head of A and E. And she confirmed exactly what was reported,” he said.

Prof. Onotai added, “We will set up a panel of inquiry. That is definitely what anybody does. We need to look at the facts, we look at the report critically and deal with it in its own merit.

“Rest assured that here as an institution, for fairness, equity and justice, everything will be done according to the rules.”

When contacted, Gift Ubabuike, President of the Student Union Government of the University of Port Harcourt, stated that the school administration was treating the situation seriously.

Ubabuike stated that this was not the first time a university student had died as a result of neglect, as reported by Yemi’s friends.JAMB Result

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