Nursing student suspended indefinitely for posting viral video of poor conditions at Enugu hospital

A nursing student in Enugu State has been handed an indefinite suspension after a video she posted online exposed dire conditions at Uwani General Hospital, conditions that the state government has since moved to fix.

Joy Ezeugwu, a student at Ezzy College of Nursing in Enugu, posted a video that went viral on March 28 showing the state of the public health facility during a night shift. In the footage, she and a fellow student nurse documented the absence of electricity, running water, cleaning staff, fumigation, and oxygen supply, while a woman was actively in labour on the ward.

"There's a woman currently in labour, and there's no light," Ezeugwu said in the video. "What if there's a complication? No oxygen, no light to give birth to a child."

The video spread widely online, drawing public attention to the hospital's conditions and prompting the Enugu State Government to contact the facility directly. According to subsequent reports, the hospital restored electricity and addressed several of the issues raised within days of the video going viral.

However, by April 2, five days after the original post, Ezeugwu had been suspended indefinitely from her clinical duties by her school. In a follow-up video, she addressed Nigerians directly, visibly distressed.

"I was the girl that posted about the hospital," she said. "Sadly, I was given an indefinite suspension and now removed from my clinical duties. Did I do anything wrong? I never posted that video to bring the government down or to paint them bad. I only did that to bring it to their attention, which, luckily, they attended to and restored light to the hospital. I am so broken. I didn't know my goodness would be punishing me so badly."

The suspension was issued by Ezzy College of Nursing, where Ezeugwu is enrolled. It followed a query issued by the Enugu State Government to hospital management over the video's contents, a query that ultimately prompted the fixes she had been calling for.

As of the time of this report, Ezeugwu and her colleague have been instructed not to resume clinical duties, with no timeline given for when the suspension may be reviewed.

The hospital and the college have not made public statements addressing the suspensions.

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