Oba of Benin summons Medical Director
The crisis that has persisted at the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital Uselu, Benin city, between the senior staff association of University Teaching Hospital, Research Institute and Allied Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) psychiatric hospital, Uselu branch, challenging the appointment of Dr Sunny Olotu as medical director of the federal institution, has allegedly led to the sack of the consultant psychiatrist, special grade 11/head residency training/forensic psychiatry, Dr Ambrose. O. Lawani, the immediate past acting medical director/consultant psychiatrist special grade 1/head geriatric psychiatry unit, Dr Onyenibedi.C Ikeji, assistant director/head social welfare unit, Ms Osadebamwen.U Morgan and Pharm. Oriakhi Kennedy Osamwonyi, all senior staff of the federal institution by the medical director.
According to a senior staff who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Medical Director has been operating the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital with impunity and gestapo style to the extent that staff especially senior officers now work with fear as a result of intimidation from thugs of Dr Sunny Olotu within and outside the hospital premises. He explained further that before the current intimidating attitude adopted by the Medical Director, he had through orders asked his thugs to break into the offices of the senior staff. “How can a Medical Director of a federal institution act in such a way as to bring such exalted office to disrepute? Why must he employ thugs to settle scores with his staff? In any case, we are all waiting for the intervention of our Royal father, Oba Erediauwa and the committee set up by the Nigeria Medical Association headed by its former President, Dr Osahon Enabulele, to investigate the issues, before we know our next line of action”. It was learnt that the medical director has refused to honor the invitation of the palace twice now just as he also turned down the invitation to appear before the Dr Enabulele led committee.
He also disclosed that in defiance of the warning from the Federal Ministry of Health that no staff should be sacked as a result of the crisis, the medical director, out of impunity, went ahead to paste on the hospital’s notice board, the names of four senior staff alleging that they have been sacked by him without serving them the termination letters directly. The crisis at the federal institution, it was observed, has resulted in the stationing of thugs within the premises and the acts of impunity by the Medical Director have now made the workers at the Psychiatric Hospital, Benin to be unsettled.
In a petition to the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone 5 made available to National WAVES by Barrister Olayiwola Afolabi, it disclosed that the medical director had sometimes in August 2014 arrested and detained Dr Ambrose Lawani, Dr O. C Ikeji, Pharm. Oriahki Osamwonyi and Ms O.U Morgan at the Police Okhoro division in his feeble attempt to frustrate the senior staff out of the hospital as a result of an action instituted by the senior staff association of the University Teaching Hospital, research institute and allied institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) Psychiatric Hospital Uselu branch, challenging his faulty appointment as medical director.
It accused the medical director, Dr Sunny Olotu of concocting falsehood against his perceived enemies by using thugs and cronies headed by the hospital’s public relation officer, Mr. Efe Stewart, to execute and carry out the vendetta, all in a bid to incriminate the senior staff and cause the police to charge them to court on trumped up charges and subsequently use the criminal charges in court to interdict, suspend and ultimately terminate their appointments with the hospital just as the medical director was said to have terminated the secretary of SSAUTHRIAI, Psychiatric Hospital, Uselu branch, Mr. Theophilous Osifo and Pharm (Barr) Peter Esan, the director and head of Pharmacy Department of the institution. It was learnt that they were both framed up, arrested and charged to court and based on the strength of the cases in court, the medical director interdicted them. The whole essence according to the petition, is that the medical director is using the police to achieve his parochial and selfish end by taking his perceived enemies out of the hospital.
It further stated how Dr Lawani and Ms Morgan were handcuffed without warrant of arrest by the police at the instigation of the Medical Director and were paraded from the office of the MD to the glaring eyes of other staff, patients and their relatives making them subject of ridicule before those who hold them in high esteem and how the medical director ordered Lucky Ozenna, including his other errand boys in the hospital to join hands with the police to molest and assault the arrested senior staff.
Also accused is Efe Stewart, the hospital’s public relations officer of instigating the arrest of Taiwo Onero Akerele, driver to Dr Ikeji after beating him to stupor where he had gone to photocopy his credentials accusing him first of kidnapping and later lying against him that he went to photocopy stolen documents belonging to one of their cronies Ms Taiwo Agho, who had worked with the state ministry of basic education. While calling on the Assistant Inspector General of Police, zone 5, to investigate the petition by detailing impeccable police officers to carry out a discrete investigation over the false and trumped up allegations against the aforementioned senior staff, it appealed to the Medical Director to stop further actions that will escalate the already tensed atmosphere at the psychiatric hospital.
Responding to the termination of the services of some senior staff of the Federal Neuro psychiatric hospital, Uselu, Benin city, Barr Olayiwola Afolabi, counsel to the purportedly sacked senior staff, posited that it will be an illegality if is true that the Medical Director sacked the affected workers when there is a pending case in court, the lawyer said Dr Olotu cannot base his actions on the industrial court judgment which was declared in his favor, noting that it was a judgment on his competence/appointment to assume the office of Medical Director of the federal institution. “I don’t think any reasonable person will say because he got positive judgment in a case bordering on appointment or competence, he will then begin to sack people. In any case, I will need the Medical Director to put it into writing so that it could be challenged in the law court”. However, in a telephone chat, the medical director explained that the affected senior staff are no longer staff of the institution because they ceased to be staff of the hospital from on the 10th of November, maintaining that two were sacked, two dismissed and one suspended. While stating that whatever action they are taking is self help, Olotu insisted that the board met on the issue and approved the actions noting that the federal ministry of health were duly informed of all that transpired. According to Dr Olotu on the invitation by the monarch, he said “with due respect to the palace, I will honor the invitation and state the facts the way it is though it is an administrative issue between the hospital, the ministry and the board”.
Olayiwola maintained that the medical director felt because he has been able to manipulate the police to trump up false allegations against the staff he can get away with it, “It has never been heard of that a medical director will unilaterally sack senior staff based on false allegations and without recourse to the rule of law. Thank God the case is already in court and I am waiting for them to come and prove their illegality. You can imagine breaking into the office, beating up senior staff with thugs in his office premises, apart from the perpetration of illegality, what is happening at the psychiatric hospital Benin is very unfortunate and worrisome”.
While assuring that the purportedly sacked senior staff will get judgment at the end because according to him, the country is guided by the rule of law, citing the case of Ojukwu versus Lagos state, Afolabi observed that the medical director has only succeeded in seeking self help as maybe advised by those he describe as disgruntled elements seeking assistance from the medical director.
However, it will be recalled that the medical director, Dr Olotu in an earlier petition by the patriots titled ‘sustained gross violation of rights of workers of the federal Neuro psychiatric hospital, Uselu and the fresh threat to peace in the hospital; an urgent call for the intervention of the President’ had been accused of plotting to systematically sack all his perceived enemies by framing them up with false allegations, removing heads of departments perceived not to be loyal to his cause by employing inexperienced applicants without due process.
He was also alleged in the petition to have been threatening the survival of the hospital’s co-operative society through the non remittance of deductions and the massive looting of the hospital’s funds to the extent that contractors and workers were being owed salaries at a time.
It was in the light of the retinue of the official and administrative misconducts of the medical director that the patriots advised that for the psychiatric hospital to have a semblance of a true federal institution, there will be need for the redressing of all acts of injustice , impunity and high handedness perpetrated against members of staff by Dr Olotu, dissolution of the inchoate board of the hospital, urgent staff and financial account audit, a mandate to Dr Olotu to take necessary steps to restore the accreditation of the school of psychiatric nursing and above all, the withdrawal of thugs from within and outside the hospital’s premises, amongst others.
