Late Corps member Ifedolapo died of kidney infection — NYSC

Based on outcome of investigation into the death of Corps member Oladepo Ifedolapo Racheal (KN/16B/1847) of Batch ‘B’ in Kano State, the NYSC boss said the deceased died as a result of Renal Sepsis, a kidney infection probably arising from untreated urinary tract infection.

This, it said was against reports on social media that the deceased had died as a result of negligence on the part of the NYSC.

According to Kazaure, in order to unravel circumstances surrounding the death of the corps member, an independent investigation committee, headed by the Director Corps Welfare and Inspectorate, Mrs Victoria Okakwu was sent to the camp.

While reading the summary of the preliminary investigation, he said the deceased, a graduate of Transport Management from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology LAUTECH had first appeared at the Camp clinic with complaints of headache and fever two days on arrival into camp.

He said: “On examination, the Doctors on duty noticed rashes on her legs which she claimed started appearing as a result of her use of a second-hand knicker she bought without first washing it.

“The Doctors at the Camp clinic then treated her with Arthemeter 160mg, Piriton tablet and Paracetamol for the fever and malaria and released her to go back to the hostel.”

The DG stated that the deceased was however brought back to the clinic  around 3:00 am the next day by her fellow corps members with complaints of vomiting and general body pains.

“After further examination, the Doctors on night duty noticed that the rashes on her legs had increased which the deceased still dismissed as reaction to usage of a second-hand knicker.

“She was thereafter admitted at the Camp clinic and treated with Drazamol injection and Piriton to soothe her body pains as she was already on malaria drugs.

“At 8:00am on the 28th November, 2016, Dr. Morowei Woyingo examined the deceased and inquires about any history of drugs or food allergy which could have resulted in the rashes, the deceased still insisted that it is a reaction from the use of second-hand clothes. The Doctor thereafter administered hydrocortisone 200mg for a start,” he explained.

He further explained that at some point, the fever and body pains complaints made by late Miss Oladebo had subsided but the rashes on her trunk and lower limb were still very obvious.

The DG affirmed that the deceased called her doctor at home on phone, who in turn requested to speak with the doctors at the camp clinic.

According to him, the deceased’s doctor also, had affirmed to the Chief Medical Director’s (CMD) line of treatment given to her.

He, however said at the course of the conversation, the deceased complained of ceased urination for a time.

“It was at this point the deceased complained to the doctor that she had not urinated for some time. The note of alarm that hastened the deceased’s referral to Gwarzo General Hospital by 4:00pm.

“On this trip, the deceased was accompanied by two doctors from the camp clinic including the CMD and the Nurse on duty who happened to have been seconded by the State Government from the same General Hospital to the camp clinic.

“They arrived at the hospital 30minutes later and met the doctor on duty, Imran Ibrahim. Doctor Ibrahim, after examination, immediately ordered for full blood count, kidney function test, hepatitis and HIV.

“From the result of the investigation, the doctor concluded that the deceased had kidney infection probably due to untreated urinary tract infection (UTI).”

Kazaure disclosed that since the potassium level of the deceased was high, the deceased required immediate dialysis which was only available at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, about two hours drive away.

He said: “To survive the grueling journey, the doctor decided to stabilize her by administering gluconate overnight.

“The investigation showed that the deceased responded well until about 2:00 am on 29 November when her condition worsened, and her body began to show noticeable signs of fluid retention.

“She was thereafter placed on oxygen as the doctors battled to stabilize her for the long journey to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.”

Consequently, he maintained that the allegation of negligence on the part of NYSC was unfounded saying “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).”

He said the deceased had an ailment which was not disclosed upon arrival stating that the Doctor’s report, revealed that she died of Renal Sepsis occasioned by infection.

While expressing sadness over the deaths, Kazaure stated that the investigation was not to justify the death of corps member but to establish facts surrounding her death.

“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,”he added.

On his part, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung called for improvement of the facilities in the orientation camps.

While emphasizing more on the health facilities, he said facilities in some camp clinics are outdated.

To this end, he called on the State governments to update facilities in most of the states to accommodate corps members across the country.

“The NYSC is a scheme that has constitutional requirements on the Federal Government and the state governments. The state governments provide facilities, maintain and update them, while the Federal Government has the responsibility to of mobilising them, training them and also deploying and taking care of them until after the service year.

“The development on ground is that the health facilities in the camps are not up to date. Even though human efforts were in order; there was no negligence, but of cause the facilities which would have abated the situation before moving to the general hospital or providing the basic first aid requirement before moving to the hospital were lacking.

“This calls for our partners in the NYSC scheme which is the state governments try and update most these facilities, those that are small in size should be expanded to accommodate the number of corps members,” he stated.