Aro Psychiatric Patients Revolt, Protest Poor Treatment

Psychiatric patients at the Neuropshyatric Hospital Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital, have protested what they described as poor treatment being received from the federal government facility located around Aro, in the state capital.

The violent protest, which took the entire staff of the health facility by surprise, lasted over two hours before police operatives from the Lafenwa Divisional Headquarters intervened, and brought the situation under control.

In the commotion that ensued, a psychiatric doctor alongside three other nurses allegedly escaped being killed during the violent protest, over the alleged poor treatment they are daily subjected to at the facility.

It was gathered that the mentally unbalanced persons at the Aro Neuropsychiatric facility were protesting poor feeding, poor sanitary system, as well as the absence of alternative electricity each time the electricity distribution company seized light at the hospital.

Some relatives of the patients on admission, said that the matter had been ongoing for a while before some of the partially healed patients, resorted to protesting the situation even when it became obvious that the management of the health facility would not remedy the situation.

A female relative of one of the patients on admission, who pleaded anonymity, said that the least amount being paid by each of the affected patients ranged from N500,000 to N700, 000 depending on the length of their stay at the facility.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the facility, Ajibola said the matter was “just an internal affair”, which has been redressed and is not worth being reported as news.

Speaking on the development, the Lafenwa Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Enatufe Omoh, said only one of the psychiatric doctors was assaulted, as he sustained varying degrees of teeth bites from the protesting on-admission patients.

The divisional Police Officer stated further that the protesters had disagreements with their handlers at the health facility having been denied some privileges, which included seeing their relations who would take them home after being discharged from the hospital, as well as not being allowed to freely move around.

He, however, denied the death of anybody within the period when the protest lasted