Victoria Isaac on her hospital bed
When Aondver Isaac took his wife, Victoria, to see a doctor for medical assistance on her inability to conceive, he thought their condition would get better. It did not.
Isaac, 32, a farmer and student said he got married in 2012 and since then his 29 year-old tailor wife Victoria has not been able to conceive, "so we decided to go to a doctor at Orozo, Abuja who owns Niquad Clinic."
He said the doctor, later identified as Dr. Aqson Warigon, asked them to go for a scan and when they brought the scan result to him, he told them Victoria had ovarian cyst at the left side and required surgery.
"He asked us to come back on the 7th of August this year. He requested for N50,000 for the operation. He later reduced N5,000 after I begged him. The operation was done on the 7th, and he discharged my wife on the 9th after I paid the money," Isaac said.
However, Victoria could not excrete two days after leaving the hospital and they went back to the hospital on Friday 11th where the doctor placed her on some drugs, he said.
"Immediately after giving her the drug that evening at home, her breathing became fast and she became weak, so I called the doctor and he asked that she be brought back to the clinic.
"He kept on giving her drips, injections and drugs and the following day, he promised that he would conduct another scan on my wife but he did not. He only said we should continue to administer the drugs he prescribed, and that if there are no changes till the following day, 14th, that he will give us a referral letter," Isaac said.
The doctor referred them to Maitama District Hospital, Abuja were another surgery was done after several scans.
Isaac said that doctors at the hospital told him that the previous doctor had damaged his wife's intestines and used some objects to tie the intestines up.
"They asked me to come with them into the theatre to witness what happened. They showed me what was done to my wife's intestines by the previous doctor.
According to him, three surgeries were performed on Victoria and after the third one, the doctor said the damage had been corrected "but that they have to bypass the intestine to aid her feeding," he said.
When our reporter visited the couple at the Maitama District Hospital, Abuja last week, Victoria could hardly utter a word. She was very skinny and pale. She also had a colostomy bag on her.
Isaac said it was because her intestine was still outside her body over a month after the correctional surgery and that whatever she ate left her body almost immediately.
"But the doctors are making plans to carry out another surgery to return the intestine into her body, and they have asked me to buy some TPN formula. They asked me to buy at least six packs which cost N24,000 each," he said.
The couple said they were in dire need of support to meet Victoria's bills and medical needs which were growing by the day.
Asked if there has been contact with Dr. Warigon since arriving at Maitama District Hospital, Isaac said the doctor had been evasive.
"For three days, I was going to the hospital but could not see him and I even called him on the phone to explain the condition of my wife. He told me to come to the clinic the following day, when I got there, his phone was switched off and I could not see him," he said.
Isaac said the case was reported at Karshi Police Division and a settlement was suggested for Dr. Warigon to pay the expenses he had incurred, but he turned down the offer.
"When I noticed that no progress was being made, I wrote a petition to the Commissioner of Police, through my lawyer, Barrister Hameed Jimoh, and the CP referred us to Maitama Area Command and the doctor was invited.
"At the police station, Dr Warigon denied cutting my wife's intestines. He said he did not remove anything from my wife and that he is a general surgeon.
When our reporter called the number supplied as Dr. Warigon's, one Barrister Warigon who identified himself simply as his brother answered the call and said the doctor died on Wednesday, November 1.
"He died yesterday (Wednesday), that's why I am asking what your call is about. The police are investigating the matter," he said.
He said that a reporter with a national daily (not Daily Trust) had published the story without his brother's side of the story, and that it was one of the things that contributed to his death.
"A responsible journalist is supposed to have heard from both sides, but one reporter went ahead and published the report without investigating and that is part of the things that caused his death. So, maybe when you are reporting, you might as well include that," he said.
The Investigating Police Officer, Sergeant Akinola Kayode, confirmed that the case was being investigated by the police and that they were waiting for the response of the Maitama District Hospital to furnish them with a medical report specifically addressed to the police.
He confirmed that he was told that Dr. Warigon has died, adding that he told the person to come to the Area Command and take him to the mortuary where the corpse was deposited. "We have to see and confirm if that is the true story."
Asked if the death would affect the investigation, he said "I can't conclude now."
A copy of a medical report from Maitama District Hospital signed by the hospital's Senior Consultant General Surgeon, Dr. K. Osisanya, confirmed that Victoria was seen by the unit on August 13, 2017 on account of coliky abdominal pain, and distension and inability to pass flatus/feces following surgery in a private hospital.
"On examination, she was ill looking, in pains, afebrile, anicteric, dehydrated. Multiple fibrinous adhesions involving loops of small bowel and uterus was visualized but both ovarian and fallopian tubes not seen," Dr. Osisanya said in the report.
The couple's lawyer, Barrister Jimoh, said another petition was sent to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) but no response has been received yet.
He said the couple was also considering instituting a civil lawsuit but that the most important thing at the moment was Victoria's recovery.
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