Lagos begins trial of two doctors over patient’s de.ath

Two medical doctors, Michael Atiba and Michael Ugbeye, are standing trial at the Ikeja High Court of Lagos State, presided over by Justice Oyindamola Ogala, for the de.ath of a patient, Ejiro Ugorobi

Lagos begins trial of two doctors over patient’s de.ath

Punch Metro learnt that the Lagos State Government had on March 25, 2024, arraigned the medical doctors over their alleged involvement in the involuntary manslaughter of the deceased patient, to which both pleaded not guilty.

According to the prosecution counsel, A. O. Azeez, Atiba, a doctor at the Gbagada General Hospital and Ugbeye, a consultant with the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, are facing a count of involuntary manslaughter as made against them by the Lagos State Government.

He disclosed that the incident occurred on October 21, 2023, at Michael Adekoya Street, Ilupeju, Lagos State, adding that Atiba and Ugbeye had committed alleged involuntary manslaughter which contravenes Section 224 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

During the trial and cross-examination of the prosecution’s first witness and mother of the deceased, Nkechi Ugorobi, she disclosed that the deceased had gone to play football as an exercise on September 9, 2023, when he fell and had an accident with his leg.

“Ejiro is my only son. He is 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 added that the deceased had informed her that his injury was serious, with a swollen leg, and that he needed to see Ugbeye, the doctor at Morningside Specialist Hospital for treatment. Further testing then confirmed 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 continued.

“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 continued.

Justice Ogala then adjourned the case to November 20, 2024, for trial and cross-examination of the prosecution’s second witness.

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