COVID-19 patients hit the streets in Gombe, protest ‘hunger in isolation’

May 5, 2020 5:56 pm

Some COVID-19 patients staged a protest at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Gombe on Tuesday, destroying some equipment in their ward.

The patients, who were under quarantine, were said to have complained of ill treatment.

A security source told TheCable that after 30 minutes, some officials in the hospital pacified them, promising that there would be improvement in their welfare.

TheCable gathered that while the protest at the hospital was ongoing, some COVID-19 patients at Kwadon Isolation Centre in Yamaltu Deba local government area of Gombe, took to the streets, also lamenting poor treatment.

They were said to have blocked the Gombe/ Biu road, chanting anti-government songs. Some of them reportedly went to unknown locations after the protest while others returned to the centre.

In a video seen by TheCable, one of the patients was heard saying he had been abandoned since officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) brought him to the hospital three days ago.

He said he had not been given drugs and was left on his own alongside some patients admitted to the hospital over COVID-19.

Another said only vitamin C drug had been given to him since he got to the centre earlier in the week.

In another video, a female patient complained about the environment she was kept in.

“Look at this place, this is the hospital where they kept us. They said we have coronavirus. Look at us? Do we look sick.? Do you you see any sign of sickness in us? Look at us very well and see!” she spoke in Hausa.

“If this thing (coronavirus) is created by some people for world material things, they will face the judgment of God. In this holy month of Ramadan, they brought us to this kind of place. We that are fasting and those that are not fasting are fed at the same time. It is about 5:00pm and they are just serving us launch. This is not fair! They are infringing on our rights.”

The state has 96 COVID-19 cases.

Ahmed Gana, commissioner for health, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report as he neither answered calls nor replied a text message.