The Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Aro, Abeokuta, located in Ogun State, experienced another episode of violence when some relatives of patients reportedly attacked a doctor named Alexander Onochie, causing damage to his parked vehicle on the premises. This incident took place last Friday, as per reports.

According to sources, the altercation stemmed from agitation among some patients’ relatives who were dissatisfied with the doctor’s treatment guidelines. Notably, this marks the second violent incident at the hospital in a span of just three days.

Earlier, it was reported by WAKADAILY that patients had protested on Wednesday against what they perceived as inadequate treatment by the hospital management. During the protest, patients allegedly assaulted a doctor, leading to chaos that forced nurses and other medical staff to flee for safety.

The protest lasted for over two hours and caught the health facility staff off guard until police officers from the Lafenwa Divisional Headquarters intervened to restore order.

Wakadaily learnt that, the doctor, Onochie, was targeted by angry patients’ relatives for prioritizing patients with more critical conditions over those with minor ailments. The directive did not sit well with the relatives, resulting in their alleged attack on the doctor.

Onochie, a consultant psychiatrist at the hospital, recounted that he had to seek refuge inside his vehicle and lock himself in until police officers arrived to rescue him from the aggressive relatives. The situation escalated further as the irate relatives resorted to trying to force him out of the vehicle while also causing damage to his car.

He narrated, “I am one of the consultants in charge of the assessment unit of the hospital. The assessment unit is a place where we see new cases. This is where we attend to people just coming to the facility for the first time.

“At about 2:15 pm on the 17th of May, 2024, I got into the premises and found a number of people waiting for the doctor.

“Because resident doctors are on strike, being the consultant, I have the primary responsibility of talking with them. I debriefed and told them that there’s a system that we operate here and it is called triage (a system where patients are attended to based on the severity of their case).

“So, they couldn’t understand why someone who came much earlier would be seen at a later time compared to someone who probably just strolled in a few hours ago.

“The patients’ relatives were agitated and demanded to be attended to first. Some of them even resorted to coming to my consulting room to kneel down, begging that they come first. I still explained to them that we operate on a triage basis here. After some time, I called out for the next patient to come and be seen. There was no response. You could imagine people in the waiting area no longer responding.

“So I came out of the consulting room to check and find out why nobody was coming in, only to discover that they had left the building. It was just a few nurses that were remaining.

“All the patients and their relatives had left the building. I went outside to still check on them only to receive signals that I should run away. You know, people were giving me signals to run away. I did not know why I should run. There was no problem here. I debrief them so I don’t expect any problem. Others were giving me signs to run into my car. They were giving me this scary sign. Run and grab your steering and move that kind of a sign. And then I quickly entered my vehicle.

“They (relatives) came to my vehicle to carry out whatever they planned. They had a ringleader, an older person who stood in front of the vehicle, and the other one went to the side of the vehicle and damaged my side mirror.

“My vehicle took a serious beating on that Friday. They scratched and banged on the vehicle. It was just like 50 people hitting your car at the same time.

“I was only protected because I was inside. If there was no such protection, they would have beaten me up. They were angry. This whole thing stems from the fact that doctors have now become punching bags for people.”

Three individuals were arrested and taken to the Lafenwa Divisional Headquarters, where they will face charges in court. When reached for comment, the Lafenwa Divisional Police Officer, Enatufe Omoh, declined to discuss the matter, referring the inquiry to the state’s Police Public Relations Officer.

However, the spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, claimed to have no knowledge of the incident. Dr. Paul Agboola, the Hospital’s Provost/Medical Director, disputed the claim that a doctor was attacked, but acknowledged a disagreement between relatives and the consultant.

He clarified that reports of a doctor being bitten by a patient were untrue and stated that a patient had actually attempted to steal a doctor’s vehicle.

Agboola added, “Most of the information that is being circulated in the news is false information. I am the medical doctor of the hospital and I can tell you that no nurse or doctor was injured.

“The one that happened on Wednesday had to do with a non-drug patient that wanted to go home. He attacked a doctor and attempted to steal his vehicle.

“In fact, he collected the car key and was driving out before he was apprehended.

“No patient attacked a doctor on Friday. What happened was that because of the event that happened on Wednesday, doctors felt they needed to express their pleasure through protest and they went on strike. So, on Friday, a few doctors and consultants were working. And there was just a disagreement between a relative and a doctor.

“Patients did not attack anybody on Friday. The suspects have been arrested and they will be charged in court on Monday.

“So, when people bring up stories, it is not always true. Many of the things reported in the news were false.

“I can categorically say that no patient bites anybody. What was reported was different from what happened. If you want to do a thorough story, you will come in and investigate.”