Court convicts Enugu psychiatric hospital MD for contempt

An Enugu State High Court yesterday convicted the Medical Director of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu, Dr Ngozi Unaogu, for disobeying a court order.

Justice Ngozi Oji convicted Unaogu alongside the director of Clinical Services of the hospital, Dr Vincent Ubochi and ordered that they be remanded in Correctional Centre until there is total obedience to the court judgement delivered on December10, 2021 by Justice Ebele Mabel Egumgbe.

Justice Egumgbe had in her judgement granted a perpetual injunction against the hospital management and restrained them from further scrutinising the credentials of the applicant, Dr. Afam Ndu, after he was cleared by the Federal Ministry of Health of any wrongdoing.

The plaintiff (Ndu), a suspended Principal of the hospital’s School of Mental and Basic Psychiatric Nursing, had filed the suit against the contemptnor.

The clearance followed the allegationsrape, murder and possession of fake certificates against the plaintiff by the contemptnor, alongside two other doctors. Unhappy with the accusations, he approached the court in 2017 seeking for redress, and N20 million damages.

But the court awarded N2.5 million cost against Dr. Unaogu, Dr Ubochi and two other doctors working with the hospital after proving that their allegations against Ndu amounted to defamation.

The court, among other things, ordered the defendants to retract the defamatory publication and publish the same in a National Newspaper within 30 days with effect from the day of the judgment on the case, 10th December, 2021.

The defendants were further restrained from further publishing the defamatory allegations against the plaintiff.

The judgment was however challenged at the Court of Appeal, which upheld the decision of the trial court on January 24, 2024.

However, despite the court order, both contemptnor, the Medical Director and the Head of Clinical Services went ahead to constitute a senior staff committee headed by her to further scrutinise Ndu’s NYSC discharge certificate, claiming it was a directive emanating from the office of the Federal Minister of Health and Social Welfare.

But, the court in delivering the judgment on Monday, held that the constitution of the senior staff committee by the Medical Director was a flagrant disregard of the courts and therefore, sentenced the duo to prison.

Justice Oji, also held that the two doctors should be remanded in prison custody until they purged themselves of all contempt by obeying the court order contained in the judgment delivered on December 10, 2021.