Mariam Adebukola 
Following the birth of a middle-aged lady simply identified as Rebecca, aka RB during the weekend, the residents of the Sankwala community in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State have embarked on a two-day protest.
The woman allegedly passed away on Thursday at Sankwala General Hospital while being cared for by a ward orderly after the hospital’s lone doctor had gone to bed due to exhaustion.
According to the findings, she was the third woman to pass away in the same hospital under similar conditions in the previous few months.
Residents in the community were incensed by this development and staged two days of protests.
Moses Igin, one of the student leaders, expressed frustration at the hospital’s shortage of trained medical staff and supplies.
“There was no doctor, no nurses to attend to her. The woman was rather attended to by a ward orderly.
“We are told that when her condition became critical due to what they call ‘bridge labour’, the doctor was contacted after he had gone home. It was alleged that the doctor was tired having performed four surgeries during the day.”
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The youth leader reported that with the baby’s head lodged in the delivery canal, Rebecca had agonising contractions all night long.
He claims that the community’s response to Rebecca’s death was extremely serious, with many accusing the general hospital of incompetence.
Basang-Sylvania Anyawho, the president of the Bassang Association in Obanliku LGA, reacted by expressing alarm about the hospital’s recurring occurrences of mother and child mortality, particularly after childbirth.
He said, “For about two days now, the media have been flooded with discouraging and heartbreaking pictures of a dead mother and child who both died during the sacred process of labour that lasted for over three days.
“It is however unbelievable to learn that two precious lives were lost due to similar circumstances that could have been averted by proper measures and appropriate medical attention.
“This medical insecurity has become the new norm at Sankwala which was purposefully built to standard as one of the best in the country at a time.
“The continued mishaps and medical inadequacy has forced many to believe that the hospital has become a ‘dead trap’ in disguise.”
According to him, the hospital serves hundreds of thousands of residents of Obanliku and Boki LGAs, as well as some communities in Benue State.
He urged the member representing Obanliku State Constituency in the House of Assembly to urgently move a motion for the immediate rehabilitation, staffing and management of the hospital by relevant agencies.
“Our representatives at the National Assembly too should look into facilitating projects like building of doctors/ nurses quarters, provision of sophisticated medical equipment and lots more to the hospital for the benefits of the people and their well-being,” he added.
The state governor, Senator Bassey Otu, expressed remorse for the killings and sent his sympathies to Amons Item, the supreme ruler, promising that such incidents would never occur again.
He gave his clear consent for Sankwala and other government health facilities—especially those in the state’s rural areas—to mobilise personnel.
