Extortion: Kano Sacks Three Health Workers, Suspends Others

Three staff members of Kabo General Hospital have been sacked and three others were suspended by the Kano State Hospitals Management Board for alleged extortion.

The sacking and suspension of the affected staff were approved by the Executive Secretary of the board, Dr. Mansur Nagoda, after an unscheduled visit to the facility.

In a statement on Monday by the Public Relations Officer of the Hospitals Management Board, Samira Suleiman said three officers of the X-ray unit were caught charging patients N12,000 for X-rays against the approved hospital price of N2,000 and no document to show as evidence of payment, leaving the facility to carry out less than 10 X-rays per week despite the fact that the 2 X-ray batteries are functional.

“The Executive Secretary of the board approved the immediate dismissal of the three officers on grounds of extortion of patients.

“Also, the Executive Secretary approved the suspension of the Accountant, Auditor, and Head of the laboratory for selling free HIV test kits given to facilities by the state government and were asked to report to the board headquarters for further disciplinary actions.

‘’Furthermore, the ES explained that the Labour ward was not in good condition, had no bed sheets on the beds, absence of compound officers, dumped equipment which was donated four years ago, as well as dumped COVID-19 items donated to the facility.

“The Executive Secretary, who vowed not to spare any staff found wanting, said the decision made against the affected workers should serve as a deterrent to others.

“We took an oath, so we will stick to that oath and sanitise the system.

‘’It is sad that after the state government made sure that each and every health worker is on the CONHESS salary scale, they are still exploiting innocent patients,” the statement read.

During the visit, the Executive Secretary of the board was accompanied by the DG of the Kano Centre for Disease Control, Dr. Muhammad Abbas, and the DG of the State Agency for the Control of Aids, Dr. Usman Bashir.