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In Ebonyi State, hospitals have resorted to detaining patients for their inability to clear bills. Twins, triplets, quadruplets’ mothers and other patients are presently languishing at Awaiting Bill Settlement (ABS) detention camps of the hospitals with pathetic conditions, reports UCHENNA INYA
Fourteen years ago, Mrs. Martina Nwofoke of Ogbala Ishieke in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State gave birth to sextuplets in her first pregnancy, four males and two females. All of them are alive.
On May 18, 2019, she gave birth to quadruplets; two males and two females bringing the total number of her children to 10 from two pregnancies. Nwofoke gave birth to the quadruplets at home.
She started bleeding after the delivery and was immediately rushed to the Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (FETHA 1) where she was treated, discharged but could not pay the hospital bills.
She was transferred from her hospital bed to the ABS unit where she slept on bare floor with her quadruplets and other mothers who were in her similar situation.
The conditions of the detainees in the ABS camp have continued to generate public outcry and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had to donate a few mattresses and mosquito insecticide treated nets to them. Some of the detainees who couldn’t get the mattresses are still sleeping on bare floor.
Nwofoke was among the over 30 women dumped in the ABS camp. Life in the camp is extremely difficult.
It is a very dirty environment and the detainees are packed like iced fish in a large hall and small rooms that are inside a building housing the camp.
There is no electricity, no kitchen to prepare edibles. In the night, mosquitoes feast on the mothers and their babies.
Nwofoke said an odour emanating from a decomposing body, made them uncomfortable until it was evacuated.
The hospital gave the woman a bill of N200,000 for the medical treatment but she not could clear the bill as her husband paid only N80,000, leaving a debt of N120,000. The hospital had to take her to ABS, a camp where those who can’t afford their hospital bills after treatment and discharged are dumped, pending when they pay up.
Nwofoke said: “We are suffering a lot in this ABS; no food to eat, no assistance, no good amenities to make life better.
As you can see, this environment exposes our babies to health problems because it is not conducive. We experience a lot of heat, mosquitoes bite and other things we are passing through here.
Our babies no longer sleep in the night because of mosquitos. It was just a few days ago that a dead body here whose odour was disturbing was evacuated.”
The woman explained that she was in the ABS as her husband, a farmer, had tried all he could to clear the hospital bill and called for assistance from all quarters to enable her go home.
She added: “I have given birth to six children before; four girls and two boys before I gave birth to these quadruplets, two boys and two girls.
“The hospital management gave us high bill to clear –N200,000 and my husband has paid N80,000. We can’t afford the remaining N120,000 and that is why we were brought to this unit of the hospital by the management.
I am not comfortable here and that is why I want to go home but money is not coming to clear the bills so that we can go home.
“I am a farmer and my husband is also a farmer; we have no money to clear the hospital bill. We don’t know when we will get money; we are therefore calling for assistance from all quarters; government, public-spirited individuals, Non-Governmental organisations (NGOs), corporate bodies to come to our aid.
Life is very difficult in this ABS unit; we are no longer being taken care of because they said they have finished with us, that we have to clear our bills and go home. We were sleeping on bare floor until when government brought some mattresses and mosquito treated nets.”
Shortly after Nwofoke spoke with our correspondent and the public outcry, she and her children were freed by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of FETHA 1, Dr. Emeka Onwe Ogah.
But while she was still in the hospital, behind Nwofoke was Mrs. Patience Ogonnaya from Amanator Umueze, Onicha Igboeze in Onicha Local Government Area of the state.
She did not also give birth in FETHA but in another hospital in the state. She was referred to FETHA 1 for proper medical attention. She gave birth to twins – girls – on May 24, 2019 through caesarean section.
Ogonnaya was sent to the ABS for inability to clear her hospital bill amounting to N102,210. She was billed the amount for her twins while her own bill is N40,000 which she has cleared remaining that of her twins.
She said: “I was brought to this ABS because of the debt I owe to the hospital; it is N102,210. This amount is for my twins while I have cleared my own bill. I paid over N40,000 for my own.
I gave birth in a different hospital and was brought to this hospital because I was having issues after delivery, so I was rushed to this hospital where I was treated. I gave birth to a single child before these twins. I want help to enable me to go home.”
Susana Igwe, a native of Onunweke Isioffia in Ezza North Local Government Area of the state also gave birth to twins at seven months. She was bleeding seriously at Mile 4 Hospital, Abakaliki, where she was delivered of the babies.
The bleeding persisted and she was referred to FETHA where her twins were put in an incubator for some weeks where they stayed and matured.
The hospital gave her two bills; one for the twins and the other for her own. The twins’ bill of N68,750 has not been cleared while her own has been cleared. She was remanded in the ABS. her husband is dead; he died before she was delivered of the babies.
The mother of six said life had not been easy for her as she depended on donations from public-spirited individuals to feed.
She said: “No one cares about me here. I find it difficult to feed.
I am seeking assistance from everywhere so that I can go home. My husband is no more alive. I am the one carrying every responsibility in my family; no one is feeding my children. I took them to my father and I don’t have any money with me to continue feeding them. I am still in ABS because I have not cleared the bill the hospital gave me.”
On her part, Mrs. Onyinyechi Nweke, a native of Agubia in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state who also gave birth to twins at seven months – two females – said the hospital gave her a bill of N95,000 out of which she had paid N20,000. She was taken to ABS for her inability to complete the payment.
She said her husband, a motorcycle operator, had been hustling to clear the bill and has not succeeded. Nweke called on government, corporate bodies and public-spirited individuals to come to her aid.
About 16 women from Ezza North/Ishielu federal constituency in the state were remanded in the ABS by the hospital management for their inability to pay their bills.
Succour, however, came their way when their representative in the National Assembly, Hon. Anayo Edwin Nwonu, cleared their bills amounting to over N1.5 million.
The women and their bills are Mrs. Peace Chukwuma (N98,520), Mrs. Chinyere Aleke (N150,000), Mrs. Princess Nwosu (N170,380), Mrs. Salome Orji (N58,040), Mrs. Rachel Ugochukwu (N156,730), Mrs. Onyekachi Onyeazi (N107,490), Mrs. Nneka Uche (N95,91), Mrs. Udochukwu Eze (N119,280), Mrs. Annastecia Okwor (N135,040) and Mrs. Chineme Izzi (N168,660).
Others are Mrs. Miracle Elom (N26,650), Mrs. Maria Ogodo (N90,590), Mrs. Grace Nweke (N64,370), Mrs. Ugochukwu Igwe (N97,905) and Mrs. Ugoeze Adaeze (N43,690). The money was N1.583 million.
One of them, Aleke, from Okposi Umuoghara in Ezza North Local Government Area, said they resorted to prayers as their condition in the hospital was getting worse.
She said: “The hospital management chased us out of the hospital beds and took us to where they call ABS where we are staying without light and other amenities because of our inability to pay our hospital bills. We sleep there on bare floor with our belongings.
“We stayed in the ABS for months and we decided to examine our condition and discovered that it is getting worse. We then went into serious prayer asking God to come to our rescue.
“I led the prayer session and I told them that it is not only our governor and Rev. Fr. Abraham Nwali, Senior Special Adviser (SSA), to the governor on Religion and Welfare, that we have who always assist the needy, that we have some other public-spirited individuals that can assist us and we must pray God to touch their hearts to come and rescue us.
“About 4p.m. on that day, Hon. Anayo Edwin Nwonu sent his brother and one of his aides to come and ascertain patients from Ezza North/Ishielu federal constituency. They compiled our names and left.
“Today, he has visited us himself to clear our bills and we are grateful to him and pray God to replenish him. I have stayed in this hospital for two months and my bill is N150,000.”
On her part, Nwosu, who hails from Ikwuato Idembia in Ezza South Local Government Area, said they had been discharged by the hospital management but they could not afford the hospital bills.
She said: “We were removed from our hospital beds because we cannot pay the bills and the hospital management said we must pay the bills before they will release us.
“We sleep on bare floors and we are not properly taken care of after we were taken out of post-natal ward to the ABS ward. We have suffered in the hospital.”
The CMD , Ogah, who addressed the women during the payment of their bills by Nwonu, said “it pains a woman to come out of labour having the child and sleeping outside the comfort of her home”.
He said: “The best is what we do for the patients. Rather than sending them home because they don’t have money, we give them treatment to save their lives first.
It is when they are alive that we talk of who will come and pay but if you push them out to go and die because they don’t have money for treatment, I think it is the greatest undoing, it is heartless and that is what we try not to encourage.
“We have not lost somebody because such a person does not have money.
“After treating them, some of them run away which is not good. But we don’t stop, we give them treatment.
“In 2017, victims of gas explosion from Ogoja were brought here for treatment and none of them came with one naira but we managed to treat them.
At the end, they had a total bill of close to N20 million and up till today, that bill has not been paid. We are lucky that up to five of them survived and you know what it means for a burnt patient to survive, especially gas burns. We are employed to save lives, not to kill.
So, people should come and clear the bills of these indigent patients so that they can go home.”
On her part, the Head of Department (HOD), Medical Social Work of the hospital, Dr. Felicia Otu, said the hospital management took proper care of all patients.
Otu explained that some patients were taken to the ABS ward to avoid occupying spaces of patients whose cases were very critical.
She said: “We see these women as their own cases settled and we see the ones in emergency – the ones we call the ‘unbooked’ from the rural villages who do not go to the hospitals but to the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).
When their cases are critical, that is the time they are rushed to the hospital and you cannot tell such people to be on the floor.
Thank God we have a place we can say okay these ones that have been resuscitated, you have to be here.”
In Mile 4 Hospital, Abakaliki, some mothers were also waiting for their bills to be settled to enable them to unite with their families.
One of them, Eze Grace Ogala of Okpshi Ngbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area who was delivered of twins, said she had been in pains since the delivery because of her inability to meet the financial requirements by the hospital for drugs which supposed to stop the pains and make her strong.
The 39-year-old women, who had two children before the twins, said she was a farmer.
She said: “I gave birth to two children before these twins. One of the twins has eye problem. Since I gave birth to the twins, I have not been taking drugs.
I don’t have money to buy drugs prescribed for me and I have been having pains in my stomach since I gave birth. I want assistance to enable me to buy the drugs and pay my hospital bills. I want to go home.”
Another woman, Mrs. Franca Ogechi Achulike, said she was delivered of a baby through caesarean section.
She said: “I gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl.
It has not been easy for me since I put to bed because you will buy this one, they will demand this one, they will request this one, and all these things involve money. So, it has not been easy at all. I feed them through breastfeeding and artificial milk. One of them, the baby girl, is not feeling fine. But I feel so happy to have these babies, they are blessings from God.
“I am still in the hospital because of the bill they gave us, which is not affordable. The bill is over N120,000 and I don’t know the amount they will charge for the baby girl of the twins who is not feeling fine. I want the governor and other public spirited-individuals to come to our aid.
“We have been running around to get money but we have not succeeded.
My husband is not doing anything, he is just working in rice mill and he has been running around to see if he can raise the money but he is not succeeding, nobody agrees to give him money. I finished at Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwanna. I have not got any job. I have ND there.”
On her part, Mrs. Ngozi Una, said she ran to the hospital to save her life.
She said: “I gave birth to two children before these twins. I am still in the hospital because I have not paid my hospital bills.
I am suffering, I am not being taken care of and I want to go home. But the hospital management is insisting I must pay the bills before going. I am stranded here and I don’t know what to do.”
One of the nurses in the hospital, Patience Njoku, who is in charge of post-natal ward, admitted that some of the women were still undergoing pains after delivery because of their inability to procure drugs that would stop the pains, owing to lack of money.
She disclosed that eight of the women, who supposed to have gone home, were still in the hospital because of their inability to pay the hospital bills.
Njoku called on government at all levels, NGOs and public-spirited individuals to come to their aid.
She said: “Actually, some of the women are complaining of pains because they are unable to procure their drugs. We have done what we can and we have been given them drugs for sometimes.
There are some drugs they supposed to be on but they didn’t buy it and that is why they are still having pains till now after the delivery.
“Most of the women cannot pay for their drugs and once you didn’t pay for your drugs especially within 48 hours of operation, you will keep on having the pains. But if you get your drugs, the way you supposed, within 72 hours, you see the woman being stronger.
“Most women, when they are being operated on, they may not procure their drugs due to financial constraints and some of them, their husbands will leave them, abandon them and go.
“We have up to eight of them who are unable to pay for their drugs and hospital bills and they are under Awaiting Bill Settlements (ABS). In these postnatal wards 1 and 2, we have two women unable to pay their bills making a total number of them to 10. We always try our best possible to make sure they are healthy and give them the drugs that we have around. We always wait for NGOs to come and offset their bills, sometime government officials do come.”
Meanwhile, an NGO, Twins and Multiple Births Care Initiative, has called for establishment of trust fund for twins and multiple births to reduce their suffering.
The group’s Secretary, Comrade Godwin Ezaka, told our correspondent that a combination of advocacy and direct interventions would tackle the phenomenon to a standstill.
Ezaka explained that the group had begun collection of signatures for submission of a petition to the state House of Assembly for a bill seeking establishment of trust fund for families of twins and multiple births in the country.
He said: “We have begun collecting signatures for the process of submitting a petition to the Ebonyi State House of Assembly for a bill, which when passed into law, will be known as Twins and Multiple Births Care Act.
This bill is seeking for the establishment of a trust fund for families of twins and multiple births in Ebonyi State, nay Nigeria.
“When passed into law, it will help alleviate the suffering of parents and families blessed with twins and births. The family remains the bedrock of the society.
“We are out to ameliorate the human condition of twins and multiple births through the provision of financial support to enhance their daily upkeep.
Your intervention for multiple births and their parents/families apart from cash and medical assistance is a panacea.
“It should be complemented with a forum for public awareness on multiple births, nutrition, health and child care.
“A trust fund for twins and multiple births will reduce the suffering of these folks. A combination of advocacy and direct interventions will tackle this phenomenon to a standstill. Social empowerment programme will safeguard the individual destiny of unborn generations.
“Let us collectively rewrite the sad stories of unprotected and homeless twins and multiples into success stories of living in abundance/freedom.
“We can recreate in them the happiness of life with compassion, humanitarian love and unparalled generosity for the less-privileged and the needy in our society. On the part of Twins and Multiple Births Care Foundation, we will continue to raise public awareness of the unique challenges that come with twins and multiple births.”
The state Coordinator of Legal Aid Council, Okwuegbu Egenti, told our correspondent that the Council would enforce the right of any patient whose right to free movement was restricted.
Egenti, however, called on government, corporate bodies, NGOs and public-spirited individuals to intervene in conditions of indigent patients by assisting them.
He said: “The Council can only come in when their rights are being infringed upon. Like in the issue you just presented, it is mainly financial but on the issue of restraining them that they can’t move out, that will amount to enforcement of their fundamental human rights on their right to free movement.
“When we enforce that right, the hospital will raise issue and say that it is because they are owing them and that is why they are detaining them but it amounts to unlawful detention if you say this type of person shouldn’t move out because he is still owing some money.
On the other way round, the NGOs, government, individuals and general public should intervene in assisting the general patients.”
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