An aide to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Mr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu-Jonathan, has paid the medical bills of a woman delivered of quadruplets but held back in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Parklane Enugu, for failure to pay her hospital bills.
Her husband it was gathered had bolted since the wife was delivered of the babies at the hospital prompting the wife and the babies, Chizaramekpere, Chidiebube, Chimdalu, Chimeremeze to remain in the hospital even after they were discharged on May 27.
They were unable to pay the medical bills after they were discharged from hospital.
However, on Tuesday, Jonathan and the wife, Mrs. Nkechinyerem paid the bills and ‘set the mother and the quadruplets free.’
But a mild drama ensued when Mrs. Ugwu Ebere Precious, though full of joy, was reluctant to leave the hospital over worries of how she would cope with the upkeep of the children.
A journey to their residential house on Olympic Street, off One-Day Road, Agbani Road, Enugu was indeed a tortuous one, as they lived at the remotest part of the area. They are presently the only occupant of the building as the other flats were empty.
Mrs. Ugwu, who was full of tears, told our correspondent that so much challenge still awaited her.
“To tell you the truth, when I went for scan and was told that there were four babies, I was so scared. I cried out my life that day; I was like God why should I be the one to face this challenge?
“Now, I’m happy and grateful to God, though it has not been easy.
“In everything, I thank God who has used Jonathan to pay our medical bills. But like Oliver Twist, I am still appealing to Nigerians and the government to come to our aid.
“I graduated from the university since 2013 but I have no job; it is the same thing with my husband. So, it is really going to be difficult for us; you can see the place we are living; you saw how hard it was for us to get here,” she said in tears.
Meanwhile, speaking to our correspondent, Jonathan said he took the action in acknowledgment of God’s love for mankind.
“I saw a post on Facebook regarding a woman who was delivered of quadruplets, and that they don’t have money to pay the hospital bill, making them to be held back in the hospital since on the 27th of May. I was moved and after discussing the issue with my wife, we had to go come today and pay the hospital bill.
“We believe that doing this is to appreciate God for his love for humanity. It is that love that made Him at a time,” he said.
On the way forward, Jonathan said, “on our own, we also provided them with small means of upkeep, but it is not enough at all.
“So, I am using this medium to call on Nigerians to take a cue from what we have done. Now that we have brought the children home, we are begging Nigerians to come to their aid. God cannot come down from heaven to do this. There are people out there who have the capacity to address this challenge.
“On the part of the husband, I am telling him to come back; he should come back; he is not supposed to run to anywhere because there are people out there looking for this kind of blessing, but God has given him three boys and one girl at once.
“Having said this, I call on him to come back without further delay and join hands with the wife to take care of these children.”
Jonathan added that having the privilege of working with Governor Ugwuanyi, he had to take a cue from his philanthropic gestures “because we cannot continue to wait for him to address issues we know we can handle. Government must not always be called to address issues like this. Before he came into government he was doing it. So, we are learning from him. This is not the first time we are doing this kind of thing.”
The mother of the quadruplets gave her contact thus: 08035454346. Account Details- UGWU EBERE PRECIOUS, 0018085166. Stambic IBTC Bank.