Lagos State government yesterday sacked and blacklisted the facility managers at the General Hospital, Odan where a medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, died from an elevator accident.
The state government in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Olumide Sogunle, on the report of the panel of inquiry set up on the incident, also said that the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA) is to immediately proceed on suspension.
The statement added that the operations and line of reporting of the facility managers have been restructured to involve the hospital management directly.
“We have handed over the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable. The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent. Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time. All our staff are fully insured. We have informed our life insurance providers about this incident.
“The Lagos Safety Commission has been directed to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. This is besides the usual safety arrangements that have always existed.”
The Edo-born medical doctor, Dr Vwaere Diaso, died on Tuesday at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island, after an elevator she took crashed.
The doctor, who was inducted last year, after a six-year sojourn at Babcock University, had high hopes and expectations.
However, her hope for a flourishing medical career and expectations to use her medical skills to benefit the community and society at large were dashed following the unfortunate incident.
Before her death, it was learned that she had less than two weeks to round off her internship.
It was claimed that a dispatch rider, who brought the food she ordered online, called her on the phone to let her know that he was around, and while using the faulty elevator, the crane fell from the 10th floor, where she was, to the ground with a loud thud that shook the foundation of the hospital. She was later found in the ruins, and badly injured.
Before Dr. Diaso joined the hospital as a student doctor, resident doctors and staff of the hospital had reported that the elevator had been in bad condition since 2011, coupled with other infrastructural challenges in the hospital.
It was learned that the elevator was so bad that it stopped at intervals, and users had to manually close it to continue their journey.
Daiso’s colleague, who pleaded anonymity, said: “On multiple occasions, the elevator had stopped while we were inside. And there was no maintenance. We reported every time it happened. The elevator is supposed to carry 630kg maximum – that is eight people.
“Once you open the elevator and see two people already, you just have to wait for the next batch. It was faulty and they knew about it. That’s why we’re not going to take this,” he stated.
Lagos State NMA Chairman, Dr. Benjamin Olowojebutu, and his Secretary, Dr Ismail Ajibowo, in a statement, had said the association also declared a five-day statewide mourning period over the death of Diaso, from injuries sustained after being trapped in an elevator at the Lagos General Hospital for more than 40 minutes.
NMA described her death as avoidable, demanding an immediate, unbiased investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident. The body demanded that all the persons found culpable in the accident, especially the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure Management Agency (LASIAMA), Ms. Adenike Adekambi, must be brought to Justice.
Following these, the Lagos State government set up an inquiry into the death of the doctor.
The state, in a statement, had expressed shock at the news of the death of Dr. Diaso.
It said: “The state government, especially management, and staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, commiserate with the family of the deceased on the unfortunate loss of their daughter, who passed on as a result of the mechanical failure of an elevator at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island.
“An inquiry by a team of officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Lagos State Safety Commission, and certified Lift and Vertical Transportation Equipment experts has commenced.
“Lagos State Government will ensure that anyone found negligent by the report of the inquiry will face appropriate sanctions.”
