Patients hold doctors, nurses hostages in isolation centres in Kano

Adamu Aminu, Kano

Chaos erupted at one of the isolation centres located at Kwanar Dawaki,in Kano state,when some COVID-19 patients held health workers hostage for four hours.

The former chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Kano branch, Professor Aminu Mohammed confirmed the aggrieved patients took two medical doctors and one nurse into captivity.

He said the health workers were on routine medical ward round check when the incident occurred.
According to him, the health workers, who wore PPE during the routine check were rounded up and locked up in an empty room in the centre, where they were held hostage for four hours.

He decried the maltreatment of the health workers by the patients, saying they had to break open the door of the room where they were kept when the heat became unbearable.

When contacted, the head of Kano Covid-19 technical response team, Dr Tijjani Husaini, said he was not aware of the incident.

One of the patients, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said they were not happy with the way they were been treated.

The patient lamented they have been in isolation for one week without been subjected to medical examination to truly determine if they had contracted the virus or not, saying they wanted to be released to rejoin their families.