RELIEF yesterday came the way of six indigent mothers who were detained for a month over their inability to offset their bills after receiving treatment in a hospital at Ajangbadi, a Lagos suburb.
Their joy knew no bounds when the Bishop, Anglican Diocese of Lagos West, Right Reverend James Odedeji, presented a cheque of N507,000 to Ilogbo Central Hospital, Ajangbadi, as payment for their medical bills.
The beneficiary women are: Tochukwu Faith from Abia State; Joy James, Benue State; Nkwuda Ikechukwu, Olamiposi Faith, Ogechi Ndubisi, 27, from Imo State and Margaret Ikpeme, Cross River.
The women had visited traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to deliver their babies but ended up having complications before they were referred to the hospital.
The hospital, it was learnt, magnanimously attended to them un-booked and they all delivered their babies successfully through Caesarean Sections (CSs).
Rev Odedeji said he was informed of the women’s plight by the Most Reverend Nicholas Okoh, the Archbishop of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), after reading about their plight.
He said the church was concerned about saving lives, especially those of poor people.
Besides, the church is about the spiritual, physical and spiritual wellbeing of the people.
The cleric praised the hospital for attending to the women’s welfare, adding that health care is not free as somebody has to pay for it. “The cost of maintenance in Nigeria is high.
He said the church is engaging pragmatic evangelism to touch lives, adding: “What we are doing is a social responsibility aimed at putting smiles on the women’s faces. That is why I brought my wife into the picture by becoming a nurse.”
Rev Odedeji said the essence of the church was to help the needy, adding that Jesus Christ wanted every believer to be his brother’s keeper.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ said ‘when I was hungry you fed me; when I was naked you clothed me.’ But when they asked Him when they did all that, He said inasmuch as they have done it to others, they have done it to him. We are rejoicing because the babies are alive, even though their fathers have absconded,” he said.
The hospital’s Medical Director, Dr Femi Obideyi, said they admitted and performed CS on the women without asking for money because to the hospital, life is more precious than money.
Obideyi, who was represented Dr Eluwa Chukwudinma said they had gone to the TBAs because they could not afford the cost of treatment in the hospital.
“But, we said we are a community hospital and as such, we should be able to render such a service,” he said.
The MD said the hospital had financial challenges too, which was why it asked the women to pay the cost of surgery.
“We are, however, thankful that the church has risen to support the indigent women,” he said.
The hospital’s matron, Mrs Risikat Oguntoye, said many of the women were unconscious when they were brought in. “Some had eclampsia, while the babies came down with birth asphyxia and were revived with oxygen,” he said.
She said some ladies who found it tough to pay their bills were 15, adding that the hospital allowed some of them to go without full payment.
Mrs Ikpeme said: “I feel happy. I just want to thank God that has made this day possible using the Anglican Church. I want to also thank the hospital for saving our lives in the nick of time. It has been tough, but I thank God that our freedom is here.”
Mrs Olamiposi praised the church and the hospital, explaining that it was her mother-in-law who introduced her to the TBAs, adding that she almost died at the TBA facility.
She said timely intervention of the experts in the hospital saved her life.
