By NewsCritic Reporters
The resident doctor at the Abiriba Community Medical Complex Foundation, ACMCF, Dr Okereke Joshua has said that the death of Mr Joseph Urum, a staff of Do Good Farms Abiriba, who was brought to the community hospital on the night of 24th February, 2025 by co-workers and later referred to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Umuahia due to acute abdomen that required urgent surgical intervention couldn’t have been a murder case as the Police are investigating.
NewsCritic online reports that on the 24 February one Joseph Urum, an employee of Do Good Piggery Farms, Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State developed serious sickness while at work, and was taken to the hospital by his co-workers, where the doctors conducted a surgical session on him for which he didn’t survive.
The deceased siblings, especially his senior brother who is said to be the vice chairman of Abiriba Welfare Union framed the narratives in a manner that almost led to the breakdown of law and order in the community, as he alleged that Joseph Urum was murdered by his co-workers and his organs harvested. The Police were invited to arrest the deceased co-workers, who are now under Police investigation.
This reporter’s findings showed that the deceased, Joseph Urum was first taken to the Abiriba community medical complex, after he couldn’t stand following a severe stomach problem he developed that night, while at his workplace by his co-workers. After examination the medical doctor referred him to FMC, where he was rejected, and again their efforts to Amachara General Hospital also suffered similar fate as he was rejected there too, before through inquiries they decided to take him to Evergreen hospital Onicha Mbaise. This movement happened at midnight of that 24th February.
Speaking in an interview with this newspaper at his office on Tuesday, Dr Okereke Joshua of the Abiriba community hospital said that he is worried that the Police visited him over a case of murder of Joseph Urum of Do Good Farms, saying that the man was brought very sick and alleging murder investigation is something he couldn’t understand at all.
Dr Okereke said “when I saw the patient, I knew that the case was very serious and we don’t have the facilities to manage it. So, within 20 minutes I’ve already dispatched the case to FMC Umuahia.
“He has an acute abdomen; it is a surgical emergency situation which we could not handle and I referred him to the federal medical centre Umuahia. They should have given you a copy of the referral letter. I didn’t get any other information, it’s just that the person who is now relating the information to me is related to one of the people Police is holding that brought the patient to us.
“On Sunday one of the family members who came to request for a card, told me that the case is in the Police and that the two people who came with the guy have been arrested. I said what happened, didn’t they go to FMC again or what? He said no, that they took the guy to Mbaise and that the surgery was done after two days. I said no doctor will do surgery after two days in a case like this, that definitely the person is going to die on the table. That was that, it’s not about 15 minutes ago, this letter came from State CID and I want to respond to it.
“So, they said that they went to FMC and they were told that there was no space, and they went to Amachara and it was the same thing. They decided to go to Mbaise or Obowo and the doctor now operated on the patient on 26th which was two days after. They brought him here around 10:10pm in the night of 24th February, that was why I told you that in this type of case, to ensure that the patient survives, as the sun has already set you must intervene before sunrise.
“If you catch the patient after sunrise you must intervene before sunset. That is the standard practice and because we can’t offer surgical services at that time, I had to refer him immediately. He came with two male adults and they called a female because they were contemplating on going to Ohafia, and she told them it’s better they go to Umuahia so they can intervene immediately. I told them to go to FMC, so I don’t know what happened thereafter.
“You know when you say acute abdomen, it is like something is wrong inside the abdominal cavity, it could be intestinal obstruction, or there is a hole in the intestine maybe from infection… maybe from the ulcer which has eaten the stomach. What I suspected from the guy is that he has perforated peptic ulcer because of the region the pain was located. That was what I was suspecting maybe from injection or herbal medications or even alcohol. So, I had to refer him because if they don’t intervene by morning his chances of survival reduce by less than 50 per cent.
“Then after a whole day his chances of survival are less than 20 per cent, so for a doctor to have operated on him 48 hours later, if the patient survives on the table it’s a miracle. For me, I am surprised that the Police involved us because the referral letter is self-explanatory, the patient left here alive, but he was very sick and the case was not something we can manage here. He left in the company of two male adults that accompanied him, so after that whatever happened we are not aware. We never got any feedback until the Police came and gave this letter to me (case of murder of Joseph Arum).
“I believe that the man’s sickness is not something that just came up suddenly, it’s like he has been sick and just managing it alone. He has been sick, so trying to allege all these things is what I don’t want to get involved in. Only that for a doctor to have waited for 48 hours to do the surgery the chances are that the patient will die on the table.
“It was a surgical emergency and I know if it was FMC I don’t think anything will stop the surgery. There was no time to wait… So, the Police write all these things, if you are now saying a case of murder you have not yet established it was murder, but you are saying it is a case of murder because at the end of the day… until they establish that. If you are talking about medical negligence, this is outside Police jurisdiction, it now falls within the ambit of medical and dental council that’s it, according to Dr Okereke.
