• Police will act when we get the report, says Hundeyin
• Professional negligence should not be treated with kid gloves, says Joe Odumakin

Less than 48 hours after the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu visited the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, to see Adebola Akin-Bright, the 13-year-old boy, whose small intestine was allegedly missing at LASUTH, the management has prevented Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) or any other person from visiting the boy and her mother in the ward.

It would be recalled that mother of the boy, Deborah Abiodun, had in a Save Our Soul (SoS) message via social media appealed to the governor to probe the mysterious disappearance of her 13-year-old son’s small intestine.She claimed the incident occurred while her son was receiving treatment at LASUTH.

But the management of LASUTH, in response to the allegations, affirmed that they did not willfully remove any organ or structure from Debola’s body while performing a corrective surgery, which had been previously operated on at a private hospital in Lagos.

On Monday, while visitors still have access to the children’s ward where the boy is being attended to without being interrogated or scrutinised, the nurses on shift duty directed that a special request must be sought from the Director, Clinical Services and Training, LASUTH, Prof. Adebowale Adekoya, to grant or not to grant access to the mother of the boy.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, said: “I saw it on the news and we don’t know if it was caused by negligence or intentional. The matter was not reported to us, so we can’t go to the hospital and arrest anyone.

“I am advising that they write to the Commissioner of Police.”Also, Founder, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Josephine Okei-Odumakin, who spoke with The Guardian, said: “The Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has taken full responsibility as it is expected. We hope his intervention will be able to stabilise the life of the boy and that his life span will not in any way be cut short.”

“Without speaking for the medical doctors that conducted the surgery, such professional error sometimes occurs in medical practice. Such has sent patients or victims to untimely graves.

“To the best of my understanding, I don’t think the small intestine is an organ that can be harvested for pecuniary gain. Hence, one cannot effectively assert that the boy is a victim of organ harvesting.

“On the part of the government, they have a duty to ensure that our medical personnel are well catered for and adequately remunerated as that will prevent brain drain of competent hands to Diaspora in search of greener pastures.

“Professional negligence should not be treated with kid gloves either on the part of the government.