The governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu has ordered an investigation into the elevator malfunction that led to the death of a female medical intern, Vwaere Diaso, at the General Hospital, Lagos Island on Tuesday.
“It is my sincere commitment that this investigation will be conducted with utmost transparency and fairness, leaving no room for any biases or favoritism…my thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this heartbreaking incident,” Sanwo-Olu said in an official response to the incident on Wednesday evening.
Vwaere Diaso, who was undergoing her housemanship in the Lagos General Hospital after six years of schooling in medicine at Babcock University, was said to have been trapped in the elevator which plunged ten floors down.
She was on her way to the ground floor to pick up her dinner from a dispatch service.
The elevator was reported to have plunged unfettered from the 10th floor and landed with a loud thud on the ground floor, shaking the building to its foundation. She was later found badly injured in the ruins.
Diaso was taken to the emergency ward unit after she was rescued .The doctors however confirmed her dead.
Some reports claim that she was left too long before being retrieved from the elevator.
The Lagos State Government has since set up a panel of inquiry to look into the circumstances surrounding the incident and promised to sanction anyone found culpable.
Part of the statement read “An inquiry by a team of officials from the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Service Commission, Lagos State Safety Commission and certified Lift and Vertical Transportation Equipment experts has commenced.
“Lagos State Government will ensure that anyone found negligent by the report of the inquiry will face appropriate sanctions.
Furthermore, the elevator was reported to have been faulty since 2011. It was further said that complaints about the state of the elevator fell on deaf ears.
Olanrewaju Ayepola, who took to her social media page while expressing her greivances over the incidence via @kristeana08 on X, said: “I’m so angry because they have been complaining about this elevator for years. Even when I go visit my friend, more than two people can’t go in it and if it stops at the sixth floor, you have to use your hands to close it yourself. All she wanted to do was get her food from a dispatcher downstairs. It even took them an hour to get her out of the elevator.” The tweet read.
