The management of the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, has accused a politician, Femi Onireti, of instructing his supporters to beat up a medical doctor on duty at the hospital.

The hospital said in a statement on Tuesday by its spokesperson, Omotayo Ogunleye, that due to the alleged assault on the doctor whose name it refused to give, his colleagues had embarked on an indefinite strike until Onireti tenders an apology to the victim and the hospital.

It said that Onireti, who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party came to the hospital and started commanding the doctor on duty to place his relative who is on admission at the Accident and Emergency Ward on oxygen and take him to the Intensive Care Unit.

The management said Onireti’s aides thought a medical doctor was filming their benefactor’s unruly action. The aides then pounced on the doctor and beat him up.

The management said, ” While condemning the politician’s manner of interfering with the management of the patient which was brought to the hospital for medical attention, the management noted that such an act would not be tolerated.

“The politician was commanding the doctors to place his patient on oxygen and also instructed that he should be taken to the Intensive Care Unit. The politician, with the help of his aides, descended on a medical doctor, a staff of the hospital, thinking the doctor was filming their devilish displays at the A&E section of the hospital.”

“Owing to the assault by Mr Onireti and his aides, the doctors at the hospital have embarked on indefinite strike until an apology is tendered to the hospital and phones seized from the victim by the politician and his aides are returned,” the management stated.

But Onireti, while reacting to the allegation in a statement issued on his behalf by a media consultant, Busayo Olawoyin, the PDP chieftain said he did not beat up any doctor nor instructed his aides to do such.

He said the patient, Olatunde Iyanda, eventually died due to negligence and rather than allowing him to mourn the death of his political ally, he was being accused of hooliganism.

He said he went to the A&E Ward to see Iyanda and observed that the patient was having difficulty in breathing. Onireti said he called the attention of the doctor on duty to it and to place him on oxygen but there was no response because the doctor on duty was overwhelmed.

He said he also requested that the patient be taken to a private ICU but he was told that the ICU was not functioning.

He added that a doctor was fiddling with his phone while this was going on and his aides observed that the doctor was probably recording him and the patient and they went to him.

He admitted that a commotion broke out and it was settled almost immediately. He said the strike action by the doctors was blackmail.

He said, “When we should be considering litigation for the negligence of duty on the part of the hospital leading to the demise of a PDP ward chairman, we are being harassed with allegations of assault.

“We are being told the whole hospital has begun strike because “Femi Onireti supervised the beating of a doctor,” thereby predisposing other patients to danger. Doesn’t that sound ludicrous? It sounds like blackmail with input from fifth columnists.

“We believe that the health of patients should be more paramount than any alleged shortcoming of Onireti. He was on the verge of losing a dear party leader, emotion was high at the time and everybody was in panic mode. He can’t be held responsible for such an offence.”