Covid-19: UITH Suspends Senior Medical Consultant over Unethical Conduct

Covid-19: UITH Suspends Senior Medical Consultant over Unethical Conduct

*Fear grips Offa muslim community over Kwara index case

By Hammed Shittu

Following the confirmation of two cases of Covid-19 by Kwara State government, the Management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital has ordered the immediate suspension of Prof. A K Salami as a Senior Consultant in the hospital.

The suspension of the senior consultant according to THISDAY checks might not be unconnected with his alleged refusal to give the management of the hospital the real facts about the patient he brought to the hospital on April 1, for medical treatment.

It was gathered that Prof. Salami claimed that the patient, who just returned from UK where he attended the graduation of one of his children, was suffering from food poisoning instead of Covid-19, consequently exposing him to health workers and patients before he died at the hospital.

The state state government had on Monday night confirmed two Covid-19 cases arising from UK returnees to the state according to a statement by the spokesman of state’s Covid-19 Technical Committee, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye.

Meanwhile, there are growing concerns in Offa Muslim community following the confirmation of the covid-19 positive status of the wife of the deceased by the state government.

THISDAY investigations further revealed that, there were serious concerns in Offa Muslim community now as the Covid-19 Technical Committee had reportedly began contact tracing of those whom the wife of the deceased might have innocently had contact with, particularly the Imams who also innocently performed the burial rites of the deceased.

The suspension of the Senior Consultant is contained in a terse statement signed by the Director of Administration of UITH , Dr. David. S. Odaibo.

The two-paragraph letter titled, “Immediate Suspension of Professor A.K Salami,” reads ”The Management of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital hereby suspend Prof A K Salami as a Senior Consultant in the hospital.

“This is as a result of his unethical conduct in the admission, management and eventual release of the corpse of a suspected Covid -19 patient who died in the hospital on the 3rd of April, 2020.”

Before now, the UITHC had in a letter with Ref no UITHMB/DA/PER/86/1/232 dated April 6,2020 signed by its Director of Administration David Odaibo set up a 10-man Committee under the Chairmanship of Professor E.O. Afolayan to among others investigate the allegations of the Covid-19 suspected case that was brought in by a member of staff, Professor A.K Salami, and died on April 3, 2020.

The suspended Professor Salami had claimed in his report at the hospital that the victim, Alhaji Jimoh Muideen, a chartered accountant who recently returned from United Kingdom where he attended one of his children’s graduation ceremony, was suffering from food poisoning.

It was several anonymous calls that revealed that the victim actually self-isolated since his return and that Prof. Salami actually brought him to the hospital when things went out of hand before the victim died the following day.

The UK returnee was later taken to his hometown of Offa for burial according to Islamic rites.

Following the circumstances surrounding his death, the management of UITH embarked on fumigation of the emergency department of the hospital.

Apart from this, the hospital advised all those who had close contact with the deceased while in the hospital to go into self-isolation.

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