Boat Accident
A boat mishap at a jetty in a Badagry community in Lagos State has again brought to fore the ill preparedness of Nigeria’s Health Sector to handle emergencies.
The mid-lagoon accident which claimed the life of a 32-year-old man was a real heartbreaking development as the death could have been averted if the nation’s health system had been robustly built to meet all eventualities.
The mishap, occurred at the jetty on Thursday night when two boats, one coming from Badagry and another coming from Lagos, collided.
Mr Victor Idowu, a resident of the community, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Badagry that the incident occurred at 10:05p.m, at a jetty in Akarakumo.
“The sound and voice of the boatmen woke up the residents of the community who came out to see what had happened.
“One of the passengers was crushed by the boat and fell inside the water, the residents and the boat man assisted to bring him out of the water.
“We brought him out of the lagoon and discovered that he had been injured in the chest.
“While some suggested that he should be taken to private hospitals, I told them General Hospital should be the best,” he said.
Idowu claimed that when they got to the hospital there was no doctor to attend the victim.
He said that the victim was given first aid treatment and was in pain until 4:10 a.m. when they took him away for X-ray.
“Coming back from the x-ray, he gave up the ghost immediately,” he said.
However, Dr Olatunde Bakare, Medical Director, General Hospital, Badagry, told NAN that the man was brought into the hospital in the middle of the night with serious chest injury.
“His two ribs had been broken. We wanted to refer him to another hospital in Lagos because we could not handle his case.
“But we realised that if we sent him to Lagos then, he might not get to half of the way before he will die.
“So, we had to stabilize him; so, this morning, they had done X-ray for him.
“When he was coming out, he died due to the seriousness of the injury,” he said.
Bakare said the man was properly attended to by the staff of the hospital but his injury was fatal, which resulted to his death.
