FG Releases the Official Report on Investigations Over the Cause of Death of Female NYSC Corps Member

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The national dailies in recent days have been awash with stories on the assumed circumstances surrounding the death of Oladepo Ifedolapo Rachael, a corps member of the 2016 Batch ‘B’ in Kano on 29th November, 2016. On the strength of the wide publicity given to the allegation of negligence on the part of the NYSC, (which did not tally with the preliminary reports from Kano State NYSC Secretariat), I set up an independent investigation committee from the NYSC Headquarters headed by the Director Corps Welfare and Inspectorate, Mrs.Victoria B. Okakwu, on Friday 2nd December, 2016.

The Committee submitted its report and from its findings, we have a very clear picture of what happened. Miss Oladepo, who was a graduate of Transport Management from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, registered at the Orientation Camp on Friday, 25th November, 2016. On 27th November at 5:00 pm, the deceased first appeared at the Camp clinic with complaints of headache and fever which she said she had been experiencing for two days.

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 for the fever and malaria and released her to go back to the hostel.

At about 3:00 am on 28th November, the deceased was brought back to the Camp clinic by corps members who were her friends, with further 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 prescription drugs to soothe her body pains as she had already been treated for malaria.

At 8:00am on 28th November, 2016, one of the Doctors on duty at the Clinic examined the deceased and inquired about any history of drug or food allergy which could have resulted in the rashes. The deceased still explained that it was a reaction to the use of second-hand clothes. The Doctor thereafter administered treatment for the rashes and associated itching.

The Doctor proceeded to invite all her other colleagues who then converged by 9:00 am to further examine the deceased. They noticed that the fever and body pains had subsided but the rashes on her trunk and lower limbs were still very obvious. They concluded that in view of the treatment she had already taken and her vital body signs normal, she should be placed on observation with iv fluid (normal saline). And that if the condition did not improve, the deceased should be taken to the hospital for a more authoritative investigation and treatment.

As the plans were being made, the deceased called her doctor at home who then requested to speak with the doctors at the camp clinic. Her home doctor further affirmed to the CMD at the camp clinic on the phone that the line of treatment given was good and the drugs administered were normal. It was at this point the deceased complained to her home doctor that she had not urinated for some time. This was what the doctors at the Clinic overheard which hastened the deceased’s referral to Gwarzo General Hospital by 4:00 pm.

On that 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 about 30 minutes later and met the doctor on duty. After examination, the doctor 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).