Students vandalize hospital after crash victims receive 'poor care'

Students of the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS) took to the streets in Calabar, escalating a protest over alleged mistreatment of their injured colleagues to acts of vandalism at a General Hospital. The unrest followed a tragic road crash that claimed four lives and left six UNICROSS students with injuries, who were subsequently admitted to different medical centers.

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They met one nurse manning the emergency unit. You know the state of employment in Nigeria. The nurse was overwhelmed by the number of students that came in and the number of casualties brought in.

Eyewitness videos captured students damaging hospital property, including a hospital bus and signposts, and disrupting operations. The situation intensified as protesters moved towards the Government House, where gunshots were reportedly heard, though the exact circumstances remain unconfirmed. Efforts to reach the state Commissioner for Health were unsuccessful.

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They were not dead but wounded. As the nurse stepped out to call us to mobilise more staff who were still within the facility, some students began to complain they were not being attended to.

Contradicting the students' claims, the hospital's Director of Nursing Services, Oguji Fabian, asserted that the injured students received immediate care. She explained that a single nurse was initially overwhelmed by the number of casualties but that more staff were mobilized. Fabian confirmed that none of the six injured students died at the General Hospital, with fatalities occurring at the accident site. The hospital also transferred some students to a teaching hospital for further care.

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That was when they started to move the vehicle. By the time we came out, the first batch had left while another set was arriving, and we immediately began attending to them.

The police spokesperson for Cross River State, Eitokpah Sunday, denied allegations that officers fired upon the protesters. He stated that the demonstration, which began peacefully, turned violent with the vandalism of hospital property. Police reported using non-lethal measures to control the crowd and dispersing protesters from the Government House premises with smoke canisters after they attempted to breach security.

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Six of the casualties were transferred to the teaching hospital with our ambulance by the General Superintendent. The others were treated and discharged. None of them died in the general hospital.