The family of a 46-year-old Lagos man, Olatunde Ojelabi, has accused the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) of contributing to his death, alleging that he was left without urgent medical attention for several hours after he was brought to the hospital following a road accident.
Ojelabi’s s elder brother alleged that the deceased, who sustained serious injuries in the accident, arrived at the LASUTH Medical Emergency Unit before 9am but was reportedly left outside the emergency ward because there was no bed available.
The brother disclosed the family’s ordeal in a Facebook post on Thursday, alleging that the delay in receiving emergency care preceded a deterioration in Olatunde’s condition, which included convulsions and cardiac arrest.
It was gathered that Olatunde was involved in the accident on Sunday, September 6, 2026, while driving his family to church along Ijegun Road, Ikotun, Lagos.
According to his brother, the accident occurred when a commercial tricycle, popularly known as Keke Marwa, suddenly swerved to pick up passengers, forcing Olatunde to swerve and crash into a stationary vehicle.
“In an effort to avoid colliding with the tricycle, Olatunde swerved, and his vehicle crashed into a stationary vehicle,” he said.
The impact, according to him, deployed the vehicle’s airbags and caused the steering wheel to strike Olatunde’s face, particularly the right side.
The brother said Olatunde was initially taken to a nearby private hospital for treatment before being referred to LASUTH because of the severity of his injuries.
“For more than six hours, my brother, who had sustained serious injuries in a road traffic accident, was reportedly left without the urgent intervention we expected from a major tertiary healthcare institution,” he said.
According to him, Olatunde subsequently began convulsing and suffered cardiac arrest before medical personnel intervened to resuscitate him.
An emergency tracheostomy was later performed after the family gave consent, and Olatunde was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.
The brother also alleged that the family was asked to purchase a plastic bucket, towel and detergent to clean the floor where Olatunde’s blood had reportedly spilled.
“I found it difficult to comprehend that, in the midst of a life-threatening medical emergency, the family of the injured patient was being asked to concern itself with cleaning the floor,” he said.
He further alleged that he was instructed to go to the ICU himself to find out whether a bed was available for his brother.
“At the ICU, we were informed that we would need to pay for the services of carers for an initial period of ten days,” he added.
The family also raised concerns about communication from the medical team.
The brother said the family was asked to purchase medications running into millions of naira and undergo several tests, but was not given sufficient explanations about some of the medications or the treatment strategy.
“What we did not have was adequate communication,” he said.
He eventually sought the assistance of a senior LASUTH doctor to brief him and Olatunde’s wife about the patient’s condition.
According to him, the doctor explained the interventions and investigations carried out and described Olatunde’s condition as “still critically ill.”
Despite the treatment, Olatunde died on September 12, six days after the accident, while still unconscious, with his 46th birthday falling on September 7, a day after the accident.
His family is now demanding an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his treatment and death.
The family wants authorities to establish whether Olatunde was properly assessed and triaged when he arrived at LASUTH, what emergency protocols were activated and whether any delay in treatment contributed to the deterioration in his condition.
The brother also questioned whether appropriate trauma and neurological assessments were conducted promptly and whether the family was adequately informed about Olatunde’s condition and treatment plan.
He called on the Lagos State Government, LASUTH management and relevant healthcare regulators to investigate the case and establish what happened.
“If mistakes were made, they must be acknowledged. If procedures were not followed, those responsible must be held accountable. And if the system itself is inadequate, it must be fixed,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the hospital management for its response to the allegations were unsuccessful as of press time.