by Topsy Oba
This is just as the government said it would wait for the outcome of OPD’s investigations to react to the incident and make its position clear.
PUNCH Metro had reported last Thursday that Nkechi Omakagu lost her six-month-old pregnancy after being detained by KAI officials for violating the law which restricts movement during the compulsory environmental sanitation exercise on the last Saturdays of every month.
Omakagu, who said she was arrested while being rushed to Jolad Hospital, Gbagada, following complications related to her pregnancy, said she spent eight hours in KAI custody.
Our correspondent learnt that following a petition addressed to the state Attorney General’s Office, the OPD, a department under the Ministry of Justice, took up the case and all parties were invited.
A source, who was at the meeting, told our correspondent on the telephone that the KAI officials said they were not aware that Omakagu was pregnant and thought that she was pretending about her medical condition.
The source said, “When we met with OPD, the KAI officials, who had detained Nkechi (Omakagu), denied that she was pregnant and said even if she was, they did not know. The KAI men said they refused to let her go because whenever they arrested people on environmental sanitation day, there was always an excuse.”
It was learnt that due to KAI official’s claim, the OPD said it would be necessary for Omakagu to undergo a medical examination at a public hospital to determine if she was actually pregnant at the time she was arrested.
The source said, “She (Omakagu) had received treatment at a private hospital where she was also diagnosed with having premature contractions. It was also the hospital that evacuated the dead foetus from her womb. So what we were told was that for the sake of objectivity, a public hospital would need to carry out independent medical examination.
“It was said that based on the outcome of the medical examination at the public hospital, the government would be advised so it could determine the next line of action.”
The Director OPD, Omotola Rotimi, however, said she had not been briefed on the matter. But a senior employee at the agency confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone.
She said, “We want to establish if the lady’s pregnancy loss was caused by KAI’s detention or something else. Also, we want our doctors at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital to give us their own report for the sake of objectivity.
“If it is established that the victim lost her pregnancy due to the detention, then the KAI officials will be prosecuted.”
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