Nurses at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) staged a protest following the arrest of three colleagues by the police. The arrest occurred after a patient died in the facility without proper identification or data being recorded. The nurses were accused of negligence for failing to collect details from the Good Samaritan who brought in the patient.
The protesting nurses, numbering over 200, barricaded the hospital gates, halting vehicular and visitor access. One anonymous nurse explained that the patient was admitted and received treatment paid for by an unknown individual but died before morning. Upon discovering the patient’s SIM card was missing, the family demanded information that the nurses could not provide.
Tensions escalated when the family involved the police, leading to the arrest of the three nurses who had attended to the deceased. To demand their release, the protesting nurses marched to the Cross River State Police Command Headquarters, disrupting normal hospital activities and locking out patients.
The police spokesperson, Irene Ugbo, criticized the nurses for failing to record the necessary data at the time of admission, calling the action unethical. However, she confirmed that the state Commissioner of Police had ordered the immediate release of the arrested nurses.
