31st August, 2015
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Angry students of the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, in Rivers State,southern Nigeria, in the early hours of Monday barricaded all the entrance and exit gates of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH.
The students who sacked doctors, nurses other medical personnel were protesting the death of their colleague, a final year female student of Theatre Arts last night.
P.M.NEWS gathered that the sick female student who was refused treatment because of the excuse of management that there was no vacant bed to admit the student later died in a private hospital.
The angry students, who disallowed doctors, nurses and other medical personnel of UPTH access to their patients, complained that they pay for medical fees as part of their schools fees yet students are always denied treatment each time they seek medical attention there.
The students insisted the management of UPTH should define the relationship between them and the hospital.
Relatives of patients on admission and other out patients who had come to the hospital for medical attention were forced to hurriedly evacuate their loved ones from the hospital to seek medical help elsewhere.
Other patients coming for admission were turned back at the gate of the hospital.
UNIPORT and the UPTH which are located within the same vicinity off the busy East-West highway caused traffic gridlock as motorists and commuters were hindered by the barricades placed by students on the road.
At the time of this report, two patrol vans of Rapid Response Squad of the Nigeria Police were seen closely monitoring the situation from a distance to prevent a break down of law and order.
UPTH, which is the only Federal Government referral hospital in the state, lacks equipment, beds and drugs and operates in an unkempt environment.
There was not been any official reaction on the issue at the time of the report.