Lagos State Governor Sacks Managers, Blacklists Hospital Following Tragic Lift Accident

Document Women earlier reported on the accident leading up to the death of a medical doctor, Vwaere Diaso, as a result of a lift collapse at Lagos General Hospital, Odan.

The Ministry of Information and Strategy's permanent secretary, Olumide Sogunle, said in a statement on Sunday that the government also ordered that the facility managers be fired and the firm be blacklisted immediately.

According to the statement, these actions were mandated by the findings of the panel formed to investigate the potential reasons, identify those who might be responsible, and offer solutions to prevent future lift mishaps.

It was stated that the panel membership includes representatives of the medical guild and six representatives of House Officers for the sake of transparency.

According to him, based on the preliminary results, the Lagos government has directed that the operations and reporting lines of the facility managers be reformed to include hospital management directly.

He said that the installation and upkeep contractors have been turned over to the police for further investigation and if they are found to be guilty, possible prosecution.

”The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent. Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time. All our staff are fully insured,” explained the statement. "We have informed our life insurance providers about this incident."

It added, ”The Lagos Safety Commission has been directed to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. This is besides the usual safety arrangements that have always existed.”

The Lagos government disclosed that the lift that malfunctioned had been installed brand-new in 2021.

According to the statement, lift experts working with the Lagos Safety Commission performed an initial investigation and would remove the lift for further mechanical analysis to understand why the safety safeguards that should have prevented this type of accident did not work.

Their findings, he claims, will establish whether or not there is a case against the lift installer.

"The Lagos state government would like to, once again, acknowledge with deep regrets the unfortunate lift accident on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at the house officer's residence of the General Hospital, Odan, which resulted in the death of Dr Vwaere Diaso, a vibrant young house officer," the Lagos government stated.