Ogun: Mental Patients Go Berserk, Attack Nurses At Abeokuta Neuro-psychiatric Hospital

Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji

ABEOKUTA - Health Workers at the Neuro-psychiatric hospital, Aro, Abeokuta are now working under palpable fear over incessant attacks by mental patients at the hospital. 

The health workers, especially nurses have been experiencing several assaults from the patients who are suffering from one mental ailments or the other.

The assaults from the aggressive patients include slapping, beating, while many of the nurses were inflicted with injuries.

THE ENCOUNTER NEWS recently gathered that, a Chief Nursing Officer (name withheld) at the male ward of the hospital was attacked last Tuesday, April 7 while on duty.

A family member closed to the victim said, the Chief Nursing Officer who was on a night shift went for a round check at the male ward when he noticed that a male patient had stayed longer in the toilet.

The nurse, in an attempt to find out what might happened to him in the toilet, was hit by the aggressive patient with a water closet on the head.

According to the family source, it took the timely intervention of colleagues who rescued him from his pool of blood before he was rushed to hospital, for medical treatment where he was revived from his state of unconsciousness.

The source added that the nurse who is now recuperating still need to undergo a computer tomography scan to determine the level of the head injury he sustained from the mental patient.

Further investigation also revealed that no fewer than two cases of assault on the health workers by aggressive patients are being recorded on weekly basis.

Also, health workers with this high risk of attacks are currently being paid N5,000 as occupational hazard allowances by the federal government without life assurance package.

When contacted, the spokesman of the hospital, Abiola Ajibola, kept mum over the issue as message sent to his WhatsAp phone was not respond to.