The Lagos State House of Assembly has said that anyone who is found culpable in the case of the missing intestine of Adebola Akin-Bright would be prosecuted in due course.
Speaking with journalists during the visit of members of the ad hoc committee of the House to the boy at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, on Tuesday, its Chairman, Hon Noheem Adams, said that the report of the Committee would soon be made public, adding that some shocking discoveries were made in the course of its investigations.
“We came to LASUTH on the directives of the Speaker, Rt. Hon Mudashiru Obasa, to see the health status of Adebola Akin-Bright.
“We want to thank Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu because we heard that he has been calling to know the status of the boy, apart from providing money for his care.
“A committee was set up by the Assembly to investigate the incident and the mother alleged that the intestine was missing. We made some shocking discoveries in the course of our investigation, but we will not make these known until we complete investigations.
“We discovered also some unusual things in the process, we will make them public for the whole world to see when we complete our investigations.
“The incident is very unusual, but we want the boy to survive and Mr Speaker is very interested in his survival too,” he said.
Adams stressed that the assembly wants the boy to have a brighter future as his name is bright, and thanked the Speaker of the House for showing interest in the boy.
The lawmaker also thanked the Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, and Dr. Williams, the certified surgeon who has been taking care of the boy, who he said told the committee that there is a little improvement in his condition.
He however, expressed worry over the condition of the boy, and said that “anybody that is found culpable on the matter would be prosecuted.”
Also commenting, Professor Akin Abayomi, thanked Speaker Obasa for setting up the Committee, saying that they have had a series of interactions with the boy and are gathering the necessary information on the incident.
“I want to also thank the Chief Medical Director of the hospital because if not for their efforts the boy would not have survived till today, which is why we can still talk about him.
“We have a situation where he is stable, but he cannot absorb his own food and that is why he is being fed with artificial food.
“He has a good team around him and he is doing well. I also want to thank the Governor for all the support he has been giving us so that we can do all that we can do as human beings and as professionals to save Akin-Bright, but there are limitations to what we can do,” he said.
The surgeon in charge of the boy’s treatment, Professor Adetokunbo Fabanwo, told journalists that all hands have been on deck to save him, and stressed that as a tertiary hospital, they have a lot of experts, including paediatricians, who he said look after children, those that look after the heart, kidney and others, adding that everybody is involved in Akin-Bright’s case.
He said; “As we speak, the condition of the boy is stable, though we are spending a lot of money to keep him alive. Mr Governor has been very magnanimous to provide the funding.
“The Committee Chairman has told you that there are things to be done in definitive terms, but that would be discussed at a higher level,” he said.
Adebola’s mother, Mrs Deborah Akin-Bright, in her comments, expressed her appreciation to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Obasa as well as all the doctors that have been treating the boy.
“Everything has changed since the visit of the Governor and all hands have been on deck to ensure that Adebola survives.
“I am hopeful that he will survive. I want to thank the Governor, and Speaker Obasa. I am so grateful that they rose to attend to Adebola’s case. I was losing hope at the initial stage, but now I want to thank them for their support,” she said.
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