Lagos State Government commenced Trail on Two Doctors Over Death of Patience

The Lagos State government has commenced trail on two medical doctors, Michael Atiba and Michael Ugbeye, at the Ikeja High Court of Lagos State, presided by Justice Oyindamola Ogala, over the death of a patient, Ejiro Ugorobi.

The duo faces manslaughter as made against them by the Lagos State government. On March 25, 2024, LASG had arranged the doctors for the involuntary manslaughter of Ejiro Ugorobi to which the pleaded not guilty.

Atiba disclosed that the incident occurred on October 21, 2023, at Michael Adekoya Street, Ilupeju, Lagos State.

During the cross-examination of the trial, the prosecution’s first witness and mother of the deceased disclosed that the deceased had an injury on September 9, 2023 while playing football as an exercise.

“Ejiro was my only son. He was 29 years old, an electrical engineer by training and went into marketing finance. He is my friend, my adviser, and my chatmate. On September 9, 2023, Ejiro went to play football as exercise and fell. He called me and told me that he had fallen while playing football,” she said.

“I asked him how bad it was and he told me it was serious. He told me his leg was swollen and that he had to go and see a doctor at Morningside Specialist Hospital under Ugbeye, the second defendant, who is the owner of the hospital. The following day, he called me that he had to run some tests. The test confirmed that he had a torn ligament,” she continued.

“Throughout this period, he wasn’t going to work and he was working from home. I asked him how he was faring, and he told me that the swelling was going down and that he was feeling better. He told me he had to run a longer test, both blood and others. Then one day, he told me that the swelling had come down but that he was still feeling pains and walking with difficulty, limping.”

“In October, he told me that he wanted to go and do an MRI. I told him that if the MRI was necessary, he should come so I could take him to some of those locals to massage his leg, and you’d be fine. But he said no. He told me he was going to have surgery, a non-invasive type of surgery. I’m quoting him.

“Ejiro carried out that surgery on October 21, 2023. Ejiro went to the hospital with his immediate elder sister. He told me that they were there already when he had the surgery. Afterwards, he called me and told me that the surgery was successful and that the surgeon did a perfect job, but that the injection they gave him was disturbing him, and that his stomach was disturbing him. He also said he felt like vomiting, that he was feeling cold and hot and that his leg was as heavy as iron. After some time, he said he was feeling sleepy. That was the end of my discussion with him.

“I spoke with him when he woke up, he told me that he was weak and that he was having shortness of breath and palpitations. After that, Ejiro died. He died after his surgery on October 21, 2023.”

Justice Ogala has adjourned the case to November 20, 2024, for trial and cross-examination of the prosecution’s second witness.