A set of twins aged only five days were tragically burnt to death at General Hospital, Ikorodu, Lagos, allegedly due to negligence by the medical staff.

A petition by the Ikorodu Chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) urged the Lagos State Government to investigate the matter and ensure that justice is done in the matter.

Dated 16^thOctober, 2023, the petition was addressed to the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi. It was signed on behalf of the petitioners by their solicitor, Chief Abimbola Badia Jack-Oladugba, Esq.

Unhappy that the petition appears not to be getting the desired attention, FIDA Ikorodu Chapter staged a protest at the hospital on October 25, calling for justice for the burnt twins.

According to the petition, a copy of which was sighted by News Express, the mother of the twins, Mrs. Abigail Bankole (alias Iya Ibeji) gave birth to Taiwo (a boy) and Kehinde (a girl) at General Hospital, Ikorodu, on October 3, 2023 and took them home upon their discharge four days later. However, she took them back to the hospital the next day upon discovering that the babies had jaundice.

Giving details of what happened next, culminating to the death of the babies, a specialised blog,thebarandbenchnews.com.ng, reported: “Upon test and confirmation of the suspected jaundice, the doctor recommended the babies be placed under the blue light for correction and treatment while they still await further inquiries from the laboratory.

“Before the babies were taken into the blue light, the mother was asked to feed the babies which she did and the babies were doing very well before they were taken into the blue light. After about an hour, one of the nurses on duty came to increase the light and left, but the mother of the babies felt, at the level of the room temperature, the light was too high and she immediately called the attention of the nurses, but the nurses vehemently declined the call and told her it was their job and they know what they were doing. The mother went again about eight times to call the nurses and they still ignored her, they later called her insane and told her, she was not okay as she aggressively raised the alarm and as a result, she started bleeding from the spot where she had the C-section of the babies due to the heat from the blue light room while she stood to watch the babies.

“All the while she kept calling on the nurses, the babies were crying and Kehinde was already bringing out foam from her mouth while she painfully watched the babies and she and another family member that was by the door could not do anything due to the restrictions and attitude of the staff.

“At the time the babies were brought out, they were burnt and already turned black, even while she held the babies, their skin was cracked and the effort to hold them tightly to herself for consolation got their skin even peeled off.”

Apart from FIDA, the grieving Mrs. Abigail Bankole (Iya Ibeji) has also cried out for justice in a viral voice note.

Whether the Lagos State Government will eventually harken to her cries and that of FIDA remains to be seen.