Gyang Bere, Jos
A 38-year-old woman, Mrs. Christiana John, who gave birth to a set of triplets at Ola Hospital in Jos, Plateau State, is being detained at the hospital for her inability to pay a N1.1 million medical bill after losing two of her newborns.
Christiana give birth to premature triplets on Thursday, January 18, and lost two of the infants two weeks after complications.
She is currently stranded at the hospital after paying about N450,000 for the first baby and N292,200 for the second. She is expected to balance the hospital N227,200 for the deceased children.
Although she was formally discharged Saturday, the hospital has detained her for owning N924,850 in medical bills for the surviving child, having only made a deposit of N70,000.
Her husband, John Pendi, who hails from Adamawa State, was affected by the Boko Haram crisis of 2015, with his mother and father perishing in the terror attacks.
Pendi trades in stationeries at the University of Jos, but his shop was affected when a fire disaster engulfed the Library Complex of the institution in 2016.
The anguished couple have begged Nigerians to come to their aid as they face another predicament.
The Welfare Secretary of the hospital, Mrs. Felicia Okboga, who gave an account of the debt owed by Christiana, said it was not their intention to detain her in the ward but it had become necessary due to the hospital’s past experiences.
She explained that many indebted patients, having been discharged and released on compassionate grounds with the hope that they source for funds to settle their debts, refuse to return after to pay what they owe.
Okboga said the hospital would not charge patients extra as long as they remain in the hospital premises, and called on philanthropies and charitable Nigerians to assist the Christiana and John in clearing their debt.