- Baby’s father stole N75,000 from my drawer, doctor alleges
By MATTHEW DIKE
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested the Medical Director of Progobia Specialist Homeopathic Medical Clinic Limited, Dr. Precious Obinna Godwin, for allegedly seizing a baby belonging to a couple over an unpaid hospital bill.
The parents of the baby identified as Samson Adedeji and Demilade Toyinbo, were said to have reported Dr. Godwin to the police at Ajeromi, who arrested the suspect after they had made unsuccessful attempts at retrieving their one and half year old baby, Ordell Adedeji, from the clinic.
The father of the baby, Adedeji, was said to have left the police station for the clinic, where he packed away the baby’s clothes and drugs while his wife and the doctor were still with the station.
The doctor, however, alleged that it was when he returned to the hospital later that he discovered that Adedeji had ransacked the drawer in his office and made away with his N75,000 cash.
Though Godwin was not detained by the police after making them to understand that he was only demanding for the N170, 000 fee for the treatment and which the couple had promised to pay initially but later declined, saying they had no such money.
The doctor told our correspondent that the one and a half-year-old baby was suffering from many ailments and had not eaten or stooled for about a week before he was brought to his clinic on June 14, this year.
He said within four days after the baby was brought to his clinic, he was able to treat him and the child that could not walk, began to do so freely.
He claimed that the couple wanted to pull a fast one on him, as they intended to take their baby away without paying him the hospital bill.
He alleged that after he was brought to the station, the police told Adedeji to return to the clinic and remove their belongings and to also take the child away before returning to the station.
The medical director said it took Adedeji three trips to move out his family’s belongings from his hospital, adding that during one of the trips, the baby’s father searched his drawer and stole the N75,000 he kept inside it, an allegation Adedeji denied on the phone saying, “My wife had deposited N10,000 she had on her on the first day she brought the baby to the clinic. Then, I was not in Nigeria. When I returned and the doctor said he wanted to travel because he had a burial to attend, my baby was still very ill. I asked what would happen if he traveled when he knew that the baby was not yet okay. He said nothing would happen to the baby and that he would come back soon. We told him to treat the child and give us little time and that we are going to pay him his fee.
“But he later claimed that his fee was N180, 000. He said if we subtract the N10,000 we deposited, the bill would be N170,000. My wife said that was not what they agreed on. He later said I should pay N100,000. We pleaded that we should pay N50,000. But we only had N30,000 on us now. Instead of collecting that first, he insisted that we should pay everything or we would not go with our child. That was why we had no choice but to call the police. As for the N75,000 he was talking about, I don’t know anything about it. I only went there to carry what belonged to us. I did not go near his drawer. His wife and children were there when I carried my belongings. “
The doctor told our correspondent that the man and his wife had lied. He alleged that the man stole the money from his drawer. He said he was climbing down from the stairs “when my son called him to inquire why he came to carry things after he had arrested his father to the station.”
Explaining how the baby was brought to him, the doctor said that he had treated the baby when he was a few months old. The medical practitioner said he knew the baby’s mother, Demilade Toyinbo, for long and he did teach her the practice because she’s also a young nurse, who had been tapping from his wealth of experience.
The doctor in a statement he made available to our correspondent said, “At about 6am of Friday, June 14, 2019,Demilade brought their sick child to my hospital for treatment. The child presented with the following medical manifestation – coma/unconsciousness, generalised swelling of the whole body with pale colouration , inability to pass urine and faeces, hyperpyrexia/ high fever, anorexia, inability to consume anything orally, ulceration of the linings of the mouth and anus. He had been without food or water for seven days.”
Continuing, the doctor said the baby, “Has been on Demilade’s care /treatment /management , based on Demilade’s self-medication as an auxiliary nurse. Anaemia/ severe shortage of blood, glandular fever/ inflammation of the liver and spleen were enlarged with pendulous abdomen, absence of pulse/ heartbeat, presence of snoring respiration on ausenultation of the heart and lungs was evident. These clinical presentations clearly endorsed that the child had been poorly and badly treated by the mother. Those clearly identified case for intensive care, emergency intervention, which I treated as such and gave in 24 hours attention and monitoring of the child’s vital signs for approximately four days before life and health was restored to the child . All the necessary life-saving treatment and measures were administered and taken to ensure that the child survived , by the hospital. Interestingly, and happily by the evening of June 16, 2019, being Sunday , the child in question was fully recovered, playing and running around the hospital premises to the glory of the Almighty God , who has aided our efforts.
“The couple requested for the medical bill of their child so they could make arrangements for payments before the discharge. The bill was presented on a paper signed by the medical director. The bill is One hundred and eighty thousand Naira (N180, 000), minus the ten thousand Naira (N10, 000) they (had) deposited initially, promising to make more deposits, which never came up till the time of this writing. They pleaded to be allowed to pay One hundred thousand Naira (N100, 000) only, after their discharge to continue to pay in instalments until the bill is fully paid, which I agreed. Surprisingly, on Tuesday morning being June 18, 2019, at about 7.30am, I saw them (couple) in company with a police woman, who introduced herself, saying she came from Ajeromi Police Division on the DCO’s order that I was under arrest. That I should follow them to the station, without any clear charge of the offence I have committed to warrant my arrest.”
The mother of the patient said they were not owing the doctor any money, since he refused to collect the N30, 000 offered him “so that we would return to complete the money. We had promised to pay a total of N50, 000 earlier for the
treatment.”
