Due to allegations of extortion, the Kano State Hospitals Management Board fired three Kabo General Healthcare workers and suspended three others.

Following an impromptu visit to the institution, Dr. Mansur Nagoda, the Executive Secretary of the board, approved the termination and suspension of the accused staff members.

This can be found in a statement provided to The PUNCH on Monday by Samira Suleiman, the Hospitals Management Board’s public relations officer.

As per the statement, three X-ray unit officers were discovered to have charged patients N12,000 for X-rays, even though the hospital had approved a price of N2,000. The officers did not have any documentation to prove payment, so the facility was only able to perform less than 10 X-rays every week, even though both X-ray batteries were operational.

“The Executive Secretary of the board approved the immediate dismissal of the three officers on grounds of extortion of patients.

“Also, the Executive Secretary approved the suspension of the Accountant, Auditor, and Head of the laboratory for selling free HIV test kits given to facilities by the state government and were asked to report to the board headquarters for further disciplinary actions.

‘’Furthermore, the ES explained that the Labour ward was not in good condition, had no bed sheets on the beds, absence of compound officers, dumped equipment which was donated four years ago, as well as dumped COVID-19 items donated to the facility.

“The Executive Secretary, who vowed not to spare any staff found wanting, said the decision made against the affected workers should serve as a deterrent to others.

“We took an oath, so we will stick to that oath and sanitise the system.

‘’It is sad that after the state government made sure that each and every health worker is on the CONHESS salary scale, they are still exploiting innocent patients,” the statement read.

The director general of the State Agency for the Control of Aids, Dr. Usman Bashir, and the director general of the Kano Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Muhammad Abbas, joined the executive secretary of the board during the visit.