In a turn of events, the consultant orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Nurudeen Adekunle has reportedly denied slapping a male nursing student at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta.
According to Adekunle, he only asked the student to leave the operating theatre for behaving rudely.
According to reports, the said incident which occurred on September 24, resulted in a protest by nurses led by the state chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, Adejoke Bello.
However, the nurses alleged that Adekunle assaulted the 21-year-old student nurse and even threatened to make him not graduate if the incident was heard outside.
Meanwhile on the day of the protest, Adejoke Bello said the protest became imperative considering that the act was against the public rule service.
“The peaceful demonstration is to register our dissatisfaction and displeasure over an unethical practice of a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with Ogun State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, Nurudeen Adekunle who slapped a final year student nurse precisely on September 24. . It is gross misconduct for you to have slapped your subordinate at work. So, we are here to say that the entire nurses in Ogun State won’t tolerate this.
On Wednesday, October 30th, Adekunle, reportedly refuted the previous reports of exerting any physical aggression, while maintaining that his interaction with the student was purely disciplinary.
Dr. Adekunle Recounted the events, saying: “On my operation day, I was preparing to operate on three patients, and I took the opportunity to teach the students present, both medical and nursing.
“During this, a young male nursing student behaved rudely, although he later claimed it was a joke. I corrected him, emphasizing the importance of respecting senior practitioners, especially in matters beyond his experience,” he remarked.
“My hand was on his shoulder as I asked him to leave the theatre, but I released him shortly afterwards. Four days later, I started hearing rumors that I had slapped him, which is simply untrue,” he added.
“The individual I had an issue with is a 21-year-old male nursing student, whom I felt I could correct when he made a mistake, but I did not slap him.
Dr. Adekunle went ahead to explain that after the incident had occurred the Hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD) carried out investigation.
“When the incident occurred, the hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD) conducted an investigation and found that no one corroborated the allegations.”
On the other hand, Dr. Luqman Ogunjimi, Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in Ogun State, supported Adekunle’s account.
However, Dr. Ogunjimi clearly stated that the allegations were exaggerated.
“There was no physical altercation; it was a shoulder tap that has been blown out of proportion,” Dr. Ogunjimi said.
