…Fires driver
Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
The Permanent Secretary in the Kwara State Ministry of Health, Dr. Ayinla Abubakar, has been placed on an indefinite suspension over COVID-19
His suspension was part of the state government’s angst over an alleged unprofessional handling of a suspected Coronavirus patient, on Tuesday.
A driver, attached the Technical Committee on COVID-19 has already been shown the way out of his job.
The driver, in a footage that had went viral on the social media, was deeply involved in evacuation exercise of a suspected COVID-19 patient said to have locked himself up in his vehicle for days.
He was said to have gone deeply depressed because of the problem and other alleged “personal life challenges”.
His COVID-19 patient’s evacuation, however, was done in a derogatory manner with insults hauled on him by the driver who allegedly went there outside the Rapid Response Team (RRT) of the state’s COVID-19 Committee.
The driver’s immediate sack had been ordered by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Thursday.
Spokesman of the committee, Rafiu Ajakaiye said that “the committee is thoroughly embarrassed at the whole development.
“The driver has been sacked from all activities of the committee for unilaterally allowing evacuation of the man by members of the public without waiting for the Rapid Response Team (RRT) to arrive the scene as instructed.
“The Permanent Secretary, who directed him to proceed on the operation with a COVID-19 ambulance, without due diligence and respect for all safety protocols, is hereby asked to proceed on an indefinite suspension forthwith.”
The suspension order was signed by the state’s deputy governor and Chairman of the COVID-19 Committee, Mr. Kayode Alabi.
“As the highest official involved in the RRT squad who gave the directive for the driver to proceed, the committee does not accept his explanation regarding the ugly development.
“He has been asked to hand over to the most senior officer on the team pending his return from suspension.
“This development also has necessitated a new round of refresher course (which is now ongoing) for all our ambulance drivers and members of the RRT.
“The scenario witnessed in the footage cannot be allowed to happen ever again. We are sorry once again for the development. It should not have happened.
“We do not take the support of the Kwara people for granted, and we reassure them that Kwara retains its proud ratings as one of the states with the best facilities, responsiveness, and general preparedness to manage this pandemic,” the deputy governor’s statement added.
