Lagos Government Launches Trial of Two Doctors Over Death of Patient

The Lagos State Government has begun the trial of two doctors, Michael Atiba and Michael Ugbeye, regarding the death of a patient, Ejiro Ugorobi.

They are being tried at the Ikeja High Court under Justice Oyindamola Ogala.

The doctors were arraigned on March 25, 2024, for their alleged role in the involuntary manslaughter of Ugorobi, to which they both pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor A. O. Azeez stated that Atiba, from Gbagada General Hospital, and Ugbeye, a consultant at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi, face charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Atiba revealed that the incident occurred on October 21, 2023.

During the trial, the first witness, Nkechi Ugorobi, the deceased’s mother, testified that Ejiro had an accident while playing football on September 9, 2023.

“Ejiro was my only son. He was 29 years old, an electrical engineer by training and went into marketing finance. He is my friend, my adviser, and my chatmate. On September 9, 2023, Ejiro went to play football as exercise and fell. He called me and told me that he had fallen while playing football,” she said.

She also mentioned that the deceased had told her his injury was serious and that his leg was swollen, indicating he needed to see Ugbeye at Morningside Specialist Hospital for treatment. Subsequent tests revealed that he had a torn ligament.

“I asked him how bad it was and he told me it was serious. He told me his leg was swollen and that he had to go and see a doctor at Morningside Specialist Hospital under Ugbeye, the second defendant, who is the owner of the hospital. The following day, he called me that he had to run some tests. The test confirmed that he had a torn ligament,” she said.

She revealed that during this time, the deceased was working from home and told her the swelling was decreasing and he was feeling better.

However, he mentioned needing further tests, including blood tests, as he still experienced pain and had difficulty walking, resulting in a limp.

“Throughout this period, he wasn’t going to work and he was working from home. I asked him how he was faring, and he told me that the swelling was going down and that he was feeling better.

“He told me he had to run a longer test, both blood and others. Then one day, he told me that the swelling had come down but that he was still feeling pains and walking with difficulty, limping.”