13/08/2025
A Cry for Help That Was Never Answered
Last week Sunday (3rd August 2025), in Potiskum Specialist Hospital, a tragedy unfolded that should break every heart and shake every conscience.
A woman in critical condition, battling a severe heart problem and crying out in unbearable pain, was rushed to the Specialist Hospital. She was brought straight to the emergency room desperate, terrified, clinging to hope.
But instead of urgent care, they met a wall of rejection. The doctors and even the chief in charge of the emergency unit refused to attend to her, coldly directing them to “just go to the amenity ward.” No compassion. No humanity. Just words that slammed the door on her chance to live. A stranger they met at the emergency room advised them to go to another hospital.
They went straight to Legacy, which is a private hospital. There, they were welcomed instantly but fate dealt another cruel blow. She needed oxygen, and they had none available. The staff there suggested that they go back to the Specialist Hospital because it is the only hospital that can provide oxygen in the whole of Potiskum.
With time running out, they made the heartbreaking decision to return to the Specialist Hospital. They knew they might be turned away again, but hope no matter how small makes you try one more time.
This time, security personnel became involved. Tempers flared. The people who brought her could not bear the injustice and began arguing, even fighting, to save her life.
But in the middle of that chaos, she took her last breath.
She died in the car.
And the cruelty didn’t stop there. The hospital refused to let them leave with her body. A mother, a sister, a friend gone and her loved ones left not just in grief, but in unimaginable anger and helplessness.
This is not just “one incident.” This is a mirror reflecting the cracks in our healthcare system, the coldness that sometimes replaces compassion, and the heavy price ordinary people pay when bureaucracy wins over humanity.
She deserved better. Every patient does.
May her soul rest in peace. May this be the last time a cry for help is ignored.
We are calling on the government, the Ministry of Health, and all relevant authorities to urgently investigate this matter and bring everyone responsible to account. This level of negligence and inhumanity cannot be allowed to continue. Lives are at stake, and justice must be served to prevent future tragedies.
Amnesty International Nigeria Human Rights Watch Human Rights Radio. Federal Ministry of Health Nigeria
