The Lagos State Government has announced that it has set up a panel of inquiry to look into the circumstances surrounding the death Dr. Vwaere Diaso in an elevator at the General Hospital, Odan, Lagos Island on Tuesday.
It would be recalled that Dr. Diaso took the lift from the 10th floor of doctors’ quarters to collect her food from a dispatch rider downstairs when the lift crashed to the ground floor severely injuring her.
It was reported that it took up to an hour to rescue her from the lift after which she was rushed to the emergency ward of the hospital.
It was alleged that there was no blood to transfuse into her and she eventually died.
Her colleagues were angered by the death because they claimed to have been complaining about the lift for a long time without the hospital paying attention to their complaints.
They trooped out on Wednesday to protest the untimely death of their colleague, grounding activities at the hospital.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as, “I don’t want to die,” “Doctors’ lives matter,” “Justice for Vwaere,” “The system failed you, Diaso,” and “Here is Vwaere Diaso, she didn’t have to die for us to get it right.”
Diaso’s protesting colleagues shut the hospital’s main gate, the health service commission’s gate, and the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital’s gate.
The NMA later directed all doctors working in the three government hospitals on Lagos Island to commence an indefinite strike.
A colleague of the deceased, Olanrewaju Ayepola, wrote on X with the handle @kristeana08:
“(I am) particularly aggrieved because we’ve complained for a long time about this elevator. We’ve manoeuvred, managed and prayed each time we had to use it. Empty promises will be made to fix it till it killed one of us”.
Another colleague, @kiky_festus, wrote:
“I’m so angry because they have been complaining about this elevator for years. Even when I go visit my friend, more than two people can’t go in it and if it stops at the sixth floor, you have to use your hands to close it yourself and step back behind a line to even out your weight. All she wanted to do was get her food from a dispatcher downstairs. It even took them an hour to get her out of the elevator.
“She was still conscious even with fractures, she was taken to the emergency and then another delay – no blood. This country failed her”.
In response to the incident, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Olumide Sogunle:
“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.
“The Lagos State Government will ensure that anyone found negligent by the report of the inquiry will face appropriate sanctions.”
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu also commiserated with the deceased’s family.
Writing on X, he said: “In light of this tragedy, I have taken immediate action to initiate a thorough investigation into the cause of the mechanical failure.”
