A Nigerian man resident in Italy, Lucky Ibadin, has cried out for help over his deteriorating health condition after being injected with an unknown substance at a hospital in Italy.
The 25-year-old man from Edo State was taken to the Ospedale Civile Di Baggiovara in the city of Modena on September 19, 2021, for medical treatment after being involved in a road accident that occurred on the same day.
A car knocked him down on the bicycle he was riding, leaving him with injuries on his face, mouth and parts of the body.
A doctor inside the ambulance that was evacuating him to the hospital immediately administered a Tetanus injection on him, which made Ibadin sleep off.
By the time he woke up about one hour later at the health facility, he saw some policemen discussing with a handful of medical staff by his bedside.
According to the young Nigerian, several attempts to find out from the doctor the type of injection he had administered on him failed as the man refused to tell.
Ibadin told SaharaReporters on Tuesday that he had been constantly falling ill and not been able to live a normal life since that period.
He added the Italian Police seized his residency documents at the hospital and had failed to return them to him despite repeated visits to their office.
The 25-year-old further disclosed that all efforts to get the Nigerian Embassy and the country’s ambassador to Italy to intervene in his situation had been abortive as officials have failed to respond to his cry for help.
“The doctor at the Italian hospital injected me with an unknown substance while I was asleep. He did that without my knowledge or consent.
“I have been falling ill since that period and have not been myself again.
“When I insisted that the doctor must tell me what he injected me with, the hospital called the police on me.
“The police held me in a very cruel condition for about six hours in one of their facilities, seized my residency documents and work permit before releasing me to go after threatening to deal with me if I went back to that hospital.
“All the hospitals I had gone to do medical checks to know what is exactly wrong with my health, the medical staff have refused to release the report to me on the orders of the police.
“A lawyer whom I approached to help fight my case was asking for an amount I couldn’t afford.
“She gave me a document to sign that if she handled my case, I was going to forfeit any property I had in Nigeria to her, so I refused.
“I have visited and even called the Nigerian Embassy in Rome and other places to seek help but they have never responded for once.
“The Italian Police said that I was under their investigation but till this moment they have refused to state what my offence is.
“They do this to Africans, especially Nigerians a lot just to punish you for no reason.
“My health is getting worse by the day. I cannot sleep well at night and there are rashes and sores all over my body since I was injected with that unknown substance. I am dying slowly,” Ibadin said.
Without his work permit and residency documents, life has become tougher for the 25-year-old Nigerian, who disclosed that he has been surviving through the benevolence of some kind friends in Modena.
He told SaharaReporters that the Italian authorities have also declined his request to be deported to Nigeria to take care of his worsening health and also look for a source of livelihood.
“The Italian authorities are refusing to deport me home even when I willingly requested it.
“It appears they are deriving joy in watching me die slowly here. I have committed no crime to deserve this type of punishment from them.
“I don’t know how much longer I can survive this,” he added.
A response to an email sent by SaharaReporters to the Italian hospital over the issue was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report.
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