A Cameronian coffin maker has been arrested after he was allegedly caught disconnecting drips being administered to cholera patients on admission in a hospital.
The suspect, 33, reportedly crept into a ward where victims of cholera were being treated at a hospital in Limbe, a seaside city in the South-West Region of Cameroon when the patients were sleeping and quietly disconnected a few of the drips before a nurse walked in on him.
The suspect reportedly tried to dash out after the nurse raised an alarm, but he was chased down by the security guards on duty and beaten up.
The suspect was then tied while the police were summoned to arrest him.
While it was speculated that the man might be mentally-challenged, a Cameroon-based media outlet, Mikozi Network, which shared the news on Twitter later reported that preliminary investigations revealed that the man is a local coffin maker in the same neighbourhood as the hospital.
The tweet had garnered over 4k likes and received over 500 comments from Cameroonians at the time of filing this report
The entrances of most hospitals in Cameroon are lined up by coffin makers. Some of them are often accused of walking into hospitals to hustle for business.
The Cameroon News Agency only a couple of days ago published a report on the proliferation of casket business around major health institutions. The agency quoted patients of some of the hospitals calling on the authorities to halt the trend.
“At the Laquintinie hospital in Douala, patients have asked the present hospital director to reduce or stop shops from selling coffins, dresses and flowers meant for corpses at this location” the agency reported.
Quoting a patient at the Douala Laquintinie, the agency wrote: “Funeral Merchants are the first people and images you see immediately you step foot into hospital premises. The general hospital Buea is same, Yaounde is same and Douala. How can we not get scared after seeing such from a sick bed. It’s like it’s waiting for you right there which really brings much depression.”
Some analysts opined that the latest incident may force the authorities to take action on the complaints.
Reports indicate that the man who was caught removing drips from cholera patients at a hospital in limbe has a coffin workshop nearby pic.twitter.com/tyTHz0vzhW
— Mikozi Network (@MikoziNetwork) January 9, 2023
