By IDRIS OLUKOYA

A 24-year-old woman, Abibat Kehinde, has been abandoned at Epe General Hospital, Lagos State, over N131,000 unpaid bills, three months after she gave birth to twins at the hospital.

Kehinde told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Epe that her husband absconded after delivery on March 21, without paying the bills to facilitate her discharge from the hospital.

“My husband is a commercial motorcycle rider.

“He absconded since I gave birth to the twins on March 21.

“I wasn’t ready for the second child before but God knows best,” she said.

The mother of twins said that she lacked sufficient food to eat while the babies also lacked basic nutrients since her abandonment three months ago.

“My husband said that he couldn’t afford to feed one child, not to talk of feeding two children with their mother; and he complained about the huge hospital bill before he left.

“Since he left the hospital, he has not returned to check on me and the children till date. He abandoned us in the hospital and absconded,” Kehinde said.

She said that she managed to raise N30,000 out of her medical bill of N161,000, leaving a balance of N131,000 yet to be settled.

“I have been in the hospital since March without being discharged by the management of the hospital.

“The hospital bill keeps increasing every day and I don’t have alternative means to offset the hospital bills,” she said.

Kehinde appealed to the hospital management to discharge her and the baby twins.

Mr Ayanbisi Rauf, Social Welfare Officer at Epe General Hospital, confirmed that the woman had been abandoned by her husband.

“The husband abandoned the patient in the last three months and all efforts made by the hospital authorities to locate him proved abortive,” Rauf said.

He said that the patient would only be discharged if she paid 90per cent of her total bills.

Raid said that two other nursing mothers having similar plight with Kehinde would remain in the hospital until they settle their bills.

He appealed to benevolent individuals and organisations to assist the women in settling their bills so as to discharge them from the hospital. (NAN)

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