By AbdulSalam Muhammad

KANO was thrown into shock penultimate Friday following reports that a septuagenarian, Isa Ibrahim, recuperating at the Malam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in the commercial city for an undisclosed ailment has mysteriously disappeared from his sick bed.

The report of his disappearance jolted and unsettled millions of Kano residents, likewise the entire management of the tertiary health institution under the leadership of the new Chief Medical Director, Dr Aminu Zakari Muhammad.

The unfortunate incident triggered panic in the ancient city and same was reported among the sick on admission; security was beefed up, while the management of the hospital immediately set up a high- powered committee to unravel the mystery. Despite the rapid response by the hospital authority, tongues wagged over the safety or otherwise of the patients in the health centre that has expanded and grown in strength in recent years.

Undisclosed ailment

Isa Ibrahim, a retired officer of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, admitted for an undisclosed ailment was allegedly ‘stolen from his sick bed’ the day before, Thursday.

This was after the hospital’s medical personnel asked his wife, Halima Ibrahim to excused them while routine checks were being carried out. The incident has since been generating ripples in the ancient city as the wife of the ‘stolen’ patient, Halima is crying foul.

Missing patient...Isa Ibrahim

Sequel to the unfortunate incident, the authorities of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, AKTH, have constituted a high powered committee to investigate the ‘mysterious disappearance’ of the 70 years old, independent of police investigations on the same matter.

Halima Ibrahim who suspected foul play over the disappearance of her hubby of several decades told Vanguard Metro, VM in Kano that barely 30 minutes the medical checks lasted she returned to the ward and found another sick person on her hubby’s bed. Dazed by the sudden turn of events, Halima Ibrahim stated: “ I raised an alarm on discovering my husband missing and nobody in the hospital was ready to listen to me. I then reported the case to the Yar’akwa Police Station on Zaria road”.

According to her: “The officers on duty after taking my statement asked me to come back on Friday around 10 am when staff of the hospital and I would give account of how the incident happened.” Halima further revealed that “when I showed up at the police station the following day, not a single staff of the hospital was seen. I was advised by the officer overseeing the station to go home since I had formally reported the case to the state police command”.

VM findings revealed that the former staff of FAAN was admitted on October 3. Before he went missing, he was already showing signs of recovery and was sighted several times taking a stroll within the premises of the hospital.

The findings further revealed that Isa Ibrahim had within the few days he spent in the male ward of the hospital observed his five daily prayers outside his sick bed. The Assistant Director in charge of the Public Relations of the Hospital, Aminu Muhammad Ringim told VM that the septuagenarian was admitted to the male ward of the hospital on October 3 over an undisclosed ailment, adding that the patient was in stable condition at the time he ‘disappeared’ from his sick bed on October 6.

Mohammed told VM that: “We have set up a high powered committee to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the septuagenarian and recommend appropriate punishment where a clear case of negligence is established”. He further explained that the in-house inquest by the hospital is independent of police investigation of the unfortunate incident, stressing that no stone will be left upturned to unravel the mystery.

Despite the assurances by the hospital management, it initially refused to surrender all the medical staff on duty to the police to ascertain the role they played in the mysterious saga. And when eventually they caved in to police pressures midweek, the Association of Nurses and Medical Health Workers embarked on an indefinite strike action in protest over the arrest and detention of its members.

Activities were completely paralyzed at the hospital, with in-patients left unattended to. There was general chaos in the hospital community as reported cases of voluntary discharge of patients was the order of the day, especially among those who could afford to do so to save the lives of their loved ones. The response by the nurses union further complicated the issues at stake, just as several residents favoured the need for all those suspected to have played a role in the saga to appear before the law to prove their innocence.

While the drama unfolds, VM learnt that the family of the 70-year-old stormed the hospital on Wednesday for a meeting with the management which ended inconclusively. They left the premises of the health facility threatening fire and brime stone if their loved one was not found within days. The family, VM learnt, were in the hospital on the invitation of the management as part of concerted efforts to resolve the issue amicably and as well as restore confidence in its numerous customers within and around Kano.

VM further learnt that besides the anger and threat lies the fundamental question of the 70-year-old’s real health status as captured by the several diagnosis and results of tests conducted by the hospital medical personnel. A competent source at the hospital further confided in VM that a HIV test conducted on the recommendation of the medical doctor overseeing the health of the missing patient confirmed the man positive.

Interestingly, it was reported that the ‘missing patient’ on the day he disappeared from his sick bed had collected a thousand naira from his wife, Halima, while one of his children also claimed to have seen his dad on a bike being driven out of the hospital premises. Halima in chat with VM admitted her husband was subjected to series of tests, adding that the results were ready as at the time he went missing from his sick bed.

She revealed thus: “My husband was terribly sick and I had helped him perform ablution, watch him sit down as against standing to pray. This whole theory of stable condition as at the time of disappearance is strange, highly mischievous and a desperate effort to cover up”.

The Hospital Public Relation Officer called for understanding of the general public on the matter, stressing that the hospital authority is working hand in hand with relevant authorities to get to the root of the matter. Kano residents, and indeed all Nigerians, are carefully watching and waiting anxiously to see how this high profile drama will play out.