A pregnant woman, Aisha Najamu, has died at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Hospital in Katsina after staff allegedly refused to accept a bank transfer for oxygen payment, insisting on cash before providing emergency treatment.
Eyewitnesses told Katsina Times that she arrived at the hospital in critical condition and urgently required a ventilator, but the cashier declined to process a mobile transfer because the family did not have cash on hand.
The employee insisted that the hospital’s policy prohibits accepting transfers.
A man who tried to intervene said he pleaded with the hospital employee to accept a bank transfer in order to save the woman’s life, but the staffer insisted he could not violate hospital policy.
He said he even offered to assume the entire bill and send additional money via transfer since he also had no cash, and eventually offered the employee $100 just to proceed with the payment, yet the staffer still refused.
He said that while everyone was still struggling to find cash, Aisha continued crying and pleading for help, but before any solution could be reached, she died while desperately seeking treatment.
When contacted, the management of the Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Hospital said they had not received any formal complaint from the public apart from one submitted by the Human Rights Watch (IHRAAC).
A representative of the hospital’s management, Aminu Ibrahim Kofar Bai, expressed condolences and said they would visit the deceased’s family and investigate any staff found to have been negligent.
The hospital, however, defended its staff, saying the Katsina State government’s TSA policy does not allow them to accept bank transfers and that the hospital currently has no POS machine.
They also cited a shortage of oxygen, explaining that they only source it from Daura.
The head of the pharmacy, Perm Usman Salisu Wada, said the employee involved was “strictly following the rules” out of fear of sanctions, adding that some patients he had assisted in the past later refused to pay their bills after recovery