…As youth advocate knocks ‘fake blogger’
By TheNewspad team
The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) has dispelled “a wave of misleading social media claims” targeting its leadership, insisting that recent online allegations against the institution and its Chief Medical Director, Prof. Idia Nibokun Ize-Iyamu, are unfounded and aimed at undermining ongoing reforms.
The controversy was ignited by a video circulated by blogger Uhundan Albert Obazee, who claimed he was “exposing” developments at the hospital.
In the video, the blogger alleged that he had received more than a dozen complaints from staff and patients and suggested that dissatisfaction was growing within the institution.
Among other claims, the blogger alleged that families of patients were being exploited and that a private laboratory introduced within the hospital environment was placing financial pressure on patients.
He further asserted that certain diagnostic tests conducted at the private facility were significantly more expensive than those carried out at the hospital’s government laboratory.
“These are serious allegations, and I will continue to investigate,” the blogger said in the widely shared video.
However, UBTH management has firmly rejected the claims, describing them as “false, misleading, and malicious.”
In an official rejoinder signed by the Head of Public Relations and Information Unit, Osaretin Iyen, the hospital stated that the narrative being promoted online does not reflect the reality of operations within the tertiary health institution.
Management clarified that the private laboratory service referenced in the viral video was deliberately engaged to complement, not replace, existing diagnostic services within the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Unit. According to the hospital, the decision was driven by the need to ensure rapid laboratory support for critically ill patients whose survival may depend on immediate test results.
“The engagement was taken strictly in the overriding interest of patient care and safety,” the statement said, noting that the arrangement complies with Federal Ministry of Health directives that allow hospital management to adopt innovative measures to maintain continuity of critical healthcare services.
UBTH further emphasized that the institution currently operates more than ten functional laboratories across its departments, dismissing suggestions that the private facility has displaced government laboratory services or signaled any form of privatization.
Beyond the management’s response, a Civil society group, Aiguobasinmwin Movement Worldwide, also issued a strong press statement backing the hospital’s leadership and cautioning against “unverified allegations” capable of distracting from institutional progress.
While acknowledging that public scrutiny is a legitimate feature of democracy, the group argued that commentary must be anchored on verifiable facts rather than speculation. It maintained that reforms under Prof. Ize-Iyamu’s leadership have begun to yield measurable outcomes.
The group cited several initiatives under the UBTH-CARES agenda, including the commissioning of a 160-slice CT scan machine to strengthen diagnostic capacity in trauma, oncology, cardiology and neurology, as well as broader institutional restructuring aimed at improving transparency and financial discipline.
Other achievements highlighted include infrastructure rehabilitation, attraction of a N2.5 billion health training facility, the introduction of a consumables pack system to enhance billing transparency, and the reported employment of over 230 staff members within the hospital.
“These are tangible achievements, not slogans,” the group said, while urging critics to pursue engagement through formal and evidence-based channels.
UBTH management, in its rejoinder, warned that the continued circulation of “defamatory claims” could attract legal action, stressing that the hospital reserves the right to protect the integrity of its leadership and institution through lawful means.
The hospital also advised members of the public to rely on verified information released through its official communication channels, reiterating its commitment to quality healthcare delivery, professional ethics a3nd patient safety.
What can I say?.