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Undercover journalist Fisayo Shombo as revealed that two weeks ago , 16 ‘ drug patients’ broke away from the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba (Yaba Left ) following food protest.
According to him this wasn’t the first protest at the drug ward , but this time the patients took it to the point of exiting the hospital Midway into their admission.
Recall that around January 2020, Soyombo went undercover as a patient of the neuropsychiatric hospital to reveal the rot in one of Nigeria’s mental institutions.
He spent 10 days on admission in the hospital tracking corruption at the centre — after going in as a drug addict requiring rehabilitation.
He documented his experiences on the failed rehabilitation programme, on corrupt officials as well as the low quality of service delivery at the facility.
Soyombo recorded the difficulties involved in securing a bed space and having to pay a bribe to get one.
Quoting a medical doctor at the hospital, he was told that the centre does not have a well-developed rehabilitation centre as a patient may go for days without seeing a psychologist.
He also narrated how the hospital was infested with big rats and mosquitoes that could cause outbreak of diseases, and the unpalatable food that patients are served despite paying a high cost for feeding.
Abass Latifat
