by crossriverwatch admin
Authorities at the Federal Psychiatric Hospital Calabar are at loss how a patient identified as Uduak slipped through their eagle eye surveillance to commit suicide by hanging himself inside the bathroom with his bedding.
A source which prefers anonymity said the deceased quietly left his room to commit suicide around 2am on Sunday effectively taking the medical staff by surprise as the hospital had ensured that its structures were built to forestall any such incident.
The source told crossriverwatch that Uduak, who is in his late 20s from Cross River State, had been an out-patient until he was admitted three weeks ago when his situation became critical.
“The guy was an intelligent patient; he did not give any sign that he was going to commit suicide as others do by expressing frustration. He was always smiling and looking cheerful which made our surveillance team not to put him on the red list”.
According to the source, “He tactically left his room around 2am when others were still asleep and went to the bathroom where he found a way of using his bed sheet to strangulate himself despite measures put in place to discourage that.
“He is not a new patient. He’s been on and off, but only admitted three weeks ago when his situation became worse.”
Confirming the report the Head of Clinical Services Department of the hospital, Dr. Essien Ekpe, said the patient’s action “took everyone by surprise as he did not show any sign that he was overwhelmed by his ailment”.
Although Ekpe said it was the second suicide incident recorded in the hospital since it became a federal institution in 1995, “Uduak was very skilful in the manner in which he committed the suicide.
“This man collected his medication, behaved so well because he related with other inmates very cordially. We felt he was getting ready for discharge. The ebullient man was admitted for abnormal behavior.
“Usually, when we suspect that a patient was showing signs of depression, we normally put that patient on surveillance and every movement is monitored, but this chap did not display those tendencies and that was where the nurses were beaten completely”.
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