Kogi govt approves hospital bill payment for family of civil
servant who committed suicide



https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/north-central/248826-kogi-govt-approves-hospital-bill-payment-family-civil-servant-committed-suicide.html

governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has approved the payment
of the hospital bill of the widow and triplets of Edward Soje, a
director in the State Teaching Service Commission who
allegedly committed suicide.

Mr. Soje’s body was found hanging from a tree behind the
Mammy Market at the Magumeri Barracks in Lokoja, the state
capital.

Reports said he took his life barely 10 days after his wife of 17
years gave birth to a set of male triplets at a private hospital in
Abuja. The couple were childless before the birth.

Mr. Soje was owed over 12 months salary before his death.

The State Head of Service, Deborah Ogunmola, had stated that
the salary of the Mr. Soje was withheld after proof emerged that
he falsified his age records.

Mrs. Ogunmola, however, wrote a memo to Governor Bello
asking for assistance to the widow and her kids to settle their
hospital bill.

In the memo, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the HOS told Governor
Bello that the widow left behind by Mr. Soje “are due to be
discharged from the hospital but are currently faced with the
dilemma of how to settle the accumulated hospital bill and a
suitable accommodation for the family.”

She also said the hospital bill as at November 4 , “stands at
N1,627, 000.00 (One Million Six Hundred and Twenty Seven
Thousand Naira Only) at the Grabbo Fertility Clinic Diagnostic
Centre at No. 23rd Avenue, Gwarimpa Abuja.”

Mr. Ogunmola in the memo dated November 6, with Reference
Number HCS/MISC/COR/VOL.1V/721, urged the governor to
kindly “consider and approve the release of the sum of
N1,627,000.00 00 ( One Million Six Hundred and Twenty Seven
Thousand Naira Only) in favour of Mrs. Grace Adebusola Soje
as assistance to offset the accumulated hospital bills of the
family on compassionate ground.”

The correspondence on the memo shows that Mr. Bello granted
approval of the request on Tuesday, November 7.

It is however unclear whether the payments have yet been made
to the hospital.

Is dat the way out?