By Umar Babangida
A pregnant woman, Aisha Najamu, has died at the Turai Umaru Musa Yar’adua Maternity and Children Hospital, Katsina, after staff allegedly refused to accept a bank transfer for oxygen payment, insisting that only cash was acceptable.
Witnesses said the patient arrived in critical condition and needed urgent oxygen. However, the cashier reportedly declined a transfer and refused to issue a receipt, citing a hospital directive that restricts payments to cash in line with the state’s TSA policy. A bystander who intervened said he even offered to pay extra and later presented a $100 bill, but the staff still refused.
The woman died around 11:30 p.m.
Hospital officials told Katsina Times that only a complaint from a human-rights group, IHRAAC, had reached management so far. They acknowledged oxygen shortages and the absence of POS facilities but promised to investigate any undue staff negligence.
In a separate incident, a resident alleged that nurses mishandled his wife’s blood transfusion, leaving one of the bags unused until it reportedly became spoiled.
Sources say similar incidents are increasing, driven largely by severe understaffing and procedural bottlenecks in Katsina’s public hospitals.