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Tag: Gwarimpa

  • Family members protest brother’s death at Gwarimpa hospital

    Family members protest brother’s death at Gwarimpa hospital

    The family of an asthmatic patient, Chiagoziem Dike, allegedly rejected by  Federal Staff Hospital Gwarimpa, Abuja on Friday called for shutdown of the facility.

    The  37-year-old was said to have experienced asthmatic attack and rushed to the hospital only to be rejected by medical personnel on duty. 

    Dike reportedly died while being rushed to Federal Medical Centre, Jabi where he was pronounced dead. 

    The family blamed his death on the failure of FSH staff on duty to attend to him when he was rushed there. 

    According to the family members, who staged a protest to the Federal Staff Hospital, Dike would have still been alive if the hospital had attended to him.

    They wondered how the hospital’s Medical staff who were on duty could not at least check before sending him away.

    The protesting family members alleged the hospital was notorious for rejecting emergency cases, causing untimely death of innocent patients. 

    A lady who identified herself as late Dike’s friend said he was rushed to the hospital when he had an asthmatic attack in the early hours of April 25 but  medical staff on duty allegedly refused to open the gate.

    She said they also stopped the gate men who had shown concern from granting them access. 

    She said after staying for about two hours with, they decided to go to another hospital but the patient couldn’t make it there alive. 

    The late Dike’s sister, Onyiyechi, said the hospital was a death trap. 

    She urged the Medical Director to get to the root of the matter, saying “It is your responsibility to know what happened in your hospital. 

    “My brother is 37 years old. Did you know how long he has been struggling? He is my parent’s only son.  We can’t sleep.  This incident could’ve have been avoided but no, you guys choose to take his life,” she lamented. 

    Another family member, Sarah Ameachi, narrated her bitter experience in the same facility.. 

    She said: “They left me in the labour room I was bleeding nobody cared for me there were supposed to be three nurses attending to me unfortunately one left the left me to bleed they after I gave birth I told them that I’m going to report they told me that I should thank God I’m alive.

    “So after that incident I went back with my son. Today it’s my brother turn who they did not touch they did not even look at him. They referred him to Jabi at least they could’ve done something or checked what was wrong with him even if you don’t have the equipment.”

    The protesting family demanded the hospital  be shut down within the next 72 hours. 

    Mr. Innocent Echi, an in-law to the late Dike, said:  “What really happened was that on the 25 April my in-law Chiahoziem  Dike had an asthmatic attack by 4am and he was rushed down to the hospital. 

    ” He stayed opposite star view meaning that from there to the hospital is one or two minutes drive so the family and friends bouught him to the nearest hospital which is the Federal Staff Hospital. But when they brought him they refused to open the gate after so much pressure they opened it and they took him in.

    “The doctors just looked at him and said they can’t handle the case and ask them to take him to Federal Medical Center, Jabi on reaching there,  they told us that he was dead.

    Our anger is that Federal Staff Hospital could’ve have given him first aid. He won’t have died. 

    “We had them on record when they were talking carelessly. It made us wonder if they graduated from Medical College and who issued them license,” he said. 

    But Chief Medical Director, Federal Staff Hospital, Gwarimpa, Dr. Adewumi said he was not aware of all the cases cited by the protesters, describing the death of Dike as unfortunate. 

    He however pleaded with the aggrieved protesters, promising to look into the matter. 

    He said: “I am not aware of all these.  I understand, I know what you are feeling .

    “This is the first case I am witnessing I’m going to find out and get the nurses and doctors involved and get justice for you.

    “We are going to investigate. Please calm down. I am sorry for all that has happened. I am going to look into it and all that happened that day.

    “It’s unfortunate it happened like I said, we need to demand justice’s for that so I need to know what happened.”

  • Men bag three months imprisonment each over attempt to dupe lady

    Men bag three months imprisonment each over attempt to dupe lady

    A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Monday sentenced a driver, Orya Ugor, and his friend, Lucky Amiadame, to three months imprisonment each, for attempting to dupe a lady.

    The judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, however, gave the convicts an option to pay N10,000 fine each.

    Sadiq advised the convicts to desist from committing crimes, adding that the sentence would serve as deterrent to others.

    READ ALSO: Court jails man 12 months for stealing cell phone

    The convicts, who reside in Nasarawa, were convicted on a count charge of attempting to steal.

    The convicts who pleaded guilty to the offence, begged the court to temper justice with mercy.

    The prosecutor, Florence Avhioboh, had told the court that one Florence Avhioboh, and his team attached to Gwarimpa Police Abuja, arrested them on Jan. 24.

    Avhioboh said that they tried to dupe a passenger of N7, 000 in their vehicle along Gwarimpa by Kubwa express way.

    “The mob around burnt the car to ashes,” she said.

    Avhioboh said during police investigation, the convicts confessed to the crime.

    The offence contravened the provisions of  Section 95 of the Penal Code.

    NAN

  • Jonathan lists items stolen from his house

    Jonathan lists items stolen from his house

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has listed items stolen from one of his house located at Gwarimpa, Abuja to include six television sets, three refrigerators and one gas cooker.

    A statement Tuesday by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze debunked media report that 36 units of plasma television sets and 25 refrigerators were stolen in the house.

    Eze added that the house was totally stripped bare by the thieves who stole every movable item, including furniture sets, beds, electronics, toilet and electrical fittings, as well as all internal doors and frames.

    The statement said, “The theft was discovered last month upon which a report was duly lodged with the relevant police authorities.

    “The police immediately commenced investigations which led to the arrest and detention of some suspects, six of whom were policemen, even as investigations continue”.

    “We thank all Nigerians for their show of concern and wish to convey the former President’s goodwill to all Nigerians”.

    According to the media aide, Jonathan bought the house, “a modest 4-bedroom duplex”, from CITEC Estate Developers in 2004.

  • Woman arraigned over N16m fraud

    The Police on Wednesday arraigned a 35-year-old woman, Patience Akhutor, in a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, for allegedly defrauding 100 people of N16million.

    Akhutor, who resides at Gwarimpa, Abuja, is facing a four-count charge of criminal breach of trust, cheating, criminal misappropriation and criminal intimidation.

    The prosecutor, Dabo Yakubu, told the court that onec, of Asokoro and 99 others wrote a petition dated April 7, against the defendant.
    The letter submitted to the FCT Commissioner of Police, alleged that
    sometime in December 2016, the defendant deceived the complainants to invest in her company, Laveragers Resources Network Ltd.

    He said that the complainants invested N16 million in the company.

    The prosecutor said that it was agreed that after four months they will get N120 million in return as profit for their investment.

    He said that when four months elapsed, the defendant failed to return the money with the profit as agreed.

    The prosecutor said that the defendant even threatened to deal with the complainants.

    The prosecutor said that during investigation it was discovered that the defendant diverted the said money to her personal use.

    He said that the offences contravened Sections 312, 322,309 and 397 of the Penal Code.

    The defendant denied committing the offences, while the Magistrate, Mohammed Tahir, granted him bail in the sum of N1.5 million, with one surety in like sum.
    He case was adjourned until June 8, for hearing.

     

  • FHA set to transform FESTAC, Gwarimpa, others

    The FESTAC housing scheme in Lagos which was built in 1977, and the Gwarimpa Estate, Abuja, are to be rehabilitated under the Federal Government’s urban renewal initiative.

    Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Managing Director Prof. Mohammed Al-Amin said under the initiative, projects to  be worked on have been prioritised, based on the estate’s age. FESTAC, he said, is among the first generation of estates that deserve FHA’s attention.

    He said many issues would be resolved before the project starts, adding that for instance, there were issues of non- payment of statutory fees, allocations and multiple uses in lands restricted for extension.

    Al-Amin said a four-prong approach has been adopted for Gwarimpa Estate, pointing out that this is because there are four native settlements/villages that are still part of Gwarimpa. Hence, negotiations are on going, trying to convince the locals to accept relocation to another place temporarily, while the government tries to remove their shanties, construct high rise buildings, and then allocate a certain unit of those blocks to them.

    “This is a new system of urban regeneration, where you integrate the original inhabitants of urban communities.We are starting it for the first time in Nigeria. The so called neighbourhood centres that we have both in FESTAC and in Gwarimpa are going to be transformed to not only market type of barrack stalls and shops, but into modern mini-malls where you can get in there, buy almost all you want and then come out within a beautiful parking lot with all the security or facilities that you have that is what we are planning and that is what is coming to FESTAC,” Al-Amin explained.

    He said just as modern estate around the world have fantastic facilities, utilities and services, which he said, are absent in FESTAC estate as well as in other estates in the country, the FHA is determined to create a very large area of its estate and erect solar farm, which he reckons will take the estates off the national electricity crisis, and making electric power available for the occupants of the estates 24 hours.

    Other services to be improved on include the fire service, the landline telephones for houses and excellent security system with CCTV cameras, a dedicated line for water system. These are to start with Gwarimpa scheme, and then taken to FESTAC.

    Also, the landscaping issue, for instance, in Gwarimpa, will see the environment benefitting from a planned planting of seven million trees in the area this year alone. This, according to the FHA boss, is in line with the thinking of bringing Gwarimpa to a standard of the neighbourhood that is known as Surrey in England, where most of the rich live. “Most of the millionaires don’t stay in London really, they migrate to Surrey because of the fantastic things that are there. This is exactly what is going to happen in Gwarimpa and FESTAC and not only in these two places, but across the country,” Al-Amin added.

    But the regeneration of an estate as huge as FESTAC or Gwarimpa involves huge capital. This is a source of worry for stakeholders who said the government alone cannot muscle the financial requirement for this initiative.

    The FHA boss explained that the financing of the scheme would not be handled by an entity, and that FHA as facilitators for this urban renewal programme, has its own budgets, just as the private developers that are participating in the project also have a certain amount of money that they have injected.

    Besides, the residents will have to bear certain costs, which are normally the commitment that they are owing the authority. “If you have spent 10 years without paying, we will ask you to pay just for five years and then we will wave the rest. If you have altered the structures that we have provided, you will need to pay us planning fees. We are going to subsidise it, but ensure within certain period that fee is paid. If there are some other contraventions that attract penalties we will encourage you to pay,” he said.

    On FESTAC, Al-Amin said some issues were being sorted out; work on the FESTAC Phase II development had been okayed by the Federal Government under a new model by conceding a certain part of the area to private developers to provide services, come up with a fantastic designs and allocate the lands to people under strict supervision.

    This area will be competing with Dubai up to Geneva, or even Los Angeles in terms of structures, when completed, Al-Amin added.

  • Me and the ‘Community Court’ at Gwarimpa ‘Police Station

    I may have my misgivings about some members of the Nigerian Police Force because of the ugly experiences some people have gone through in their hands. But generally, I like our police officers and I’m one of those who pray that we shall one day have a police force to be proud of.

    So far, I have always had a fair deal with the police in Nigeria. I understand that they want to be treated well and so, I try my best to do just that. I respect every police officer I see, so I get a high level of respect back in return.

    I have had reasons to bail many people at different police stations in Lagos and Abuja at different times and I must say that on all such occasions, I have not parted with a dime to do that. But from experience, if you want to get anybody out on bail, be prepared to go with your pillows and sleeping mat because they can waste a lot of your time in the process. And the smell and heat of most police stations would make you puke if you’re not healthy enough. What about the noise of police officers as they bark at detainees? You wouldn’t want to have anything to do with them. So naturally, I try to avoid going near our stations to help anybody out… That was until I went to Gwarimpa police station in Abuja some weeks ago to bail one of those who work with me. I have been consumed since then to not only visit police stations, but to offer voluntary service at least once in a week.

    This guy, Bashir and his pretty wife had spent the whole of Saturday with me and my family. We had work to do on Monday and needed to get some things ready on Sunday in order to be fully ready. We parted on the note that he would report at my place by noon the following day.

    Noon came and there was no word from him. I tried his telephone lines and both were switched off. I muttered under my breath that he was irresponsible. I was going to take a decision on him when my phone rang – it was his father.

    “Hajia, please help me o. Bashir has been arrested and detained since last night and I don’t have money to bail him. Could you please do something about it?” the old man pleaded on the phone.

    Bashir’s ‘accommodation’ since the previous day had been Gwarimpa Police Station. Prepared to spend long hours there as I had come to accept with police stations, I took loo rolls and enough money for food in case hunger struck. For the smell and heat, I took a hand fan and some peppermint sweets to handle queasiness.

    The first thing that I noticed on entering the station was the quiet and neatness of the environment. R-e-a-l-l-y! The next surprise was the way the officers on duty looked impeccably dressed and courteous.

    It looked like a well-run office rather than ‘usual’ image I have come to identify police stations with. I felt at home around the officers.

    When I asked to see the DPO, they told me it was a DCO they had on duty there. Okay o. I asked to see the DCO and I was ushered to this small office where the latest news I would have missed on cable TV was being aired. R-e-a-l-l-y!

    The sofas in the DCO’s office were clean and visibly not infested by bedbugs. The fan did its work of producing cool air without any noise and on top of the new fridge in the room was a pack of Vitamin C, which I asked if I could help myself with. I got it.

    The DCO of that station, DSP Olatunji Bello is as suave as any gentleman could be – soft-spoken, well dressed and ready to hear all sides of the story before taking a decision over the case before him or advising on the right steps to go.

    As there were many cases before him when we got there, so were solutions. Junior, 18 and son of an air-force officer who died in a plane crash was a guest there after he, along two of his friends were arrested for beating up men of a vigilante group who dared beating up some small boy who were arrested for wandering at 3.00am in the night. High on ‘slows’ Junior was a sight to behold as he was in another world when a high ranking officer came to bail him. Two architects, who had been friends until one of them used his friend’s company profile to get a fat contract.