The Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, has released the summary of findings on the death of corps member, Oladepo Ifedayo.
Ifedolapo died at NYSC orientation camp in Kano State on November 29 and was laid to rest in her hometown in Osun State.
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered an investigation into her death.
Dalung on Wednesday made public the findings by the Ministry and NYSC, absolving NYSC of any lapses in the cause of attending to the late corps member.
The report reads in part:
“The national dailies in recent days have been awash with stories on the assumed circumstances surrounding the death of Oladepo Ifedolapo Rachael, a corps member of the 2016 Batch ‘B’ in Kano on 29th November, 2016…
“FINDINGS:
In all of the above, some conclusions could be highlighted without any fear of contradiction.
(i) From the evening of 27th November, 2016 up to the early hours of 29th, the corps member was promptly attended to. The allegation of negligence on the part of NYSC is therefore unfounded.
(ii) The Orientation Camp clinic where the corps member was first treated has a total of 31 qualified and registered Doctors, 20 Pharmacists and 11 Nurses. There are no student Doctors as all the Doctors are fully certified by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
(iii) The Camp clinic in Kano Orientation Camp, as in all the Camp clinics nationwide, runs 24-hour service, hence she received attention at 3:00 am on the 28th of November when her friends brought her in from the hostel.
(iiii) The Camp clinic in Kano was well stocked with essential drugs for a non-surgical hospital.
(v) There was no delay in referring the deceased to the secondary hospital when the Camp clinic Doctors found that her case was beyond what could be managed in the Camp clinic.
(vi) Apart from being the closest secondary hospital to the Camp, Gwarzo General Hospital is not a village hospital as insinuated in the Press. It is a standard General Hospital established in 1970 as a Zonal Referral Hospital with surgical theatres. It currently has eleven (11) Doctors and is reputed to be one of the busiest in the whole of Kano State.
(vii) We have also established that at no time was the deceased left unattended at the Gwarzo General Hospital as the Nurse who accompanied her to the hospital is a staff of the Hospital.
(viii) Like many corps members do upon arrival at the Camp, it is clear that the deceased had an ailment which she did not disclose. From the Doctors’ report, the corps member died of renal sepsis occasioned by infection. Even to the untrained, Kidney infections do not develop and degenerate to the level of mortality in three days (i.e 27th to 29th November, 2016).
(ix) The close friends of the deceased who were by her side all through at the Camp, have also attested to the fact of prompt attendance at the clinic by the Doctors at the Camp.
(x) The deceased was neither forced nor harassed to take part in any parade at the time of her ailment. There was no usual parade rehearsal since the Swearing-in Ceremony had not taken place at the time she fell sick.
“CONCLUSION:
The purpose of this investigation and report is not to justify the death of our corps member but to establish the facts surrounding her death, especially against the backdrop of the unfounded insinuations that have been peddled in the Press.
“All these facts could be verified right from the Orientation Camp Clinic entries, the medical personnel and the records at the Gwarzo General Hospital. Indeed, the death of a single corps member in the course of service is one death too many.
“Beyond the colossal loss to the family of the deceased, the loss of a corps member to the NYSC family and the nation at large is unquantifiable. At this prime of her life, Miss Oladepo was expected to make her greatest contribution to the development of Kano State and Nigeria in general. She has definitely left a vacuum that may never be filled.
“As we mourn her and other corps members who have departed this world, we shall continue to honour her memory by working harder with the rest of the corps members to achieve the time-honoured objectives of the NYSC.
“May the soul of Oladepo Ifedolapo Rachael and the souls of all other deceased corps members rest in peace Amen.”
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