The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja, has launched an internal probe into the alleged negligence of eight staff members —comprising four doctors, two nurses, and two hospital attendants — following the emergence of a viral video showing road accident victims reportedly left unattended at the hospital’s emergency unit.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, the hospital’s Head of Clinical Services, Dr. Bioku Muftau, confirmed that the affected personnel are currently under investigation for alleged dereliction of duty.
He stressed that appropriate sanctions would be applied to any staff member found guilty.
The controversy stems from a video that surfaced on social media, in which a good Samaritan accused hospital staff of refusing to treat the injured victims he had transported from a roadside accident scene.
In the video, one staff member allegedly cited a lack of gloves as the reason for not attending to the victims promptly.
Dr. Muftau clarified that the accident victims seen in the video, including one with a head injury, have since received treatment and were discharged the same day.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has also stepped in, with the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, ordering a thorough investigation into the incident.
The outcome of the probe, according to Dr. Muftau, will be made public upon its conclusion.
“All the staff who are there on that particular day are going to be investigated. They are up to eight -Nurses, attendants, doctors, all of them will be investigated; for now, they are four doctors, two nurses, two health assistants,” he stated.
However, he denied reports that the hospital was overwhelmed by the number of patients at the time of the incident, asserting that the facility is adequately staffed to manage patient care.
“In terms of being overwhelmed, this hospital is blessed with a lot of staff. As I speak with you, we have over 100 consultants in various specialities. In neurosurgery alone, the sole speciality of surgery, we have three,” he added.