“I did not poison Adeleke an Igbo doctor prescribed his medicine” – Adeleke’s Nurse

Aderibigbe, who said the late senator treated him like a son, stated that the drugs administered were given to him by the deceased to keep so that he could be given whenever he needed them.

The nurse, who administered injections to Senator Isiaka Adeleke before he died, Mr. Alfred Aderibigbe, has denied giving drug overdose to the deceased.

Aderibigbe said this while being led in evidence by his counsel, Mr Lekan Alabi, before the coroner probing Adeleke’s death in Osogbo on Thursday.

He admitted that he treated the deceased on the day of his death but said he did not administer all the empty ampoules of injections recovered from Adelek’s house on the deceased.

He explained that he broke some of the ampoules but did not administer the injections on him.

He told the coroner that the deceased showed him the doctor’s prescription which allowed him to buy the drugs.

Asked if he did not miss his benefactor (Adeleke), the nurse broke down in tears. He, however, did not cry until he was asked the question.

He said, “On April 23, I was sleeping inside my house. At around past 4, I heard some people banging my gate, shouting. I opened the gate and saw his (Adeleke) campaign vehicle and those there said Guv (Adeleke) sent for me. They said they had called me earlier. I picked my phone and checked and saw that I had 16 missed calls. Senator had called, his friend, Dipo Faborode, and others had called.

“I called Oga (Adeleke) and Dipo picked it and Senator collected the phone from him and told me that gout was disturbing him. He said I should bring along his injections. When I got there, I saw him in pains. He told me that he had called me. He asked for his injections and I brought them out.

“He said he was weak. He asked if I brought intravenous fluid apart from the injection. I went and brought it. I saw some oral drugs which I think he had taken. He started calling the drugs one by one and Dipo was there. He said he knew all his drugs by heart. He brought out a prescription. On April 17, he showed me a prescription and gave me those drugs that I should take them home. I asked him to give me the prescription but he said no. I don’t know the name of the doctor but it was an Igbo name.

“His blood pressure was 130/80. Temperature, 37.4; his respiration was 26 beats per minute; his pulse was 86. I saw that all his vital signs were okay. While I was checking his vital signs he said he was getting better.

“I searched for his vein in four different places but I couldn’t find it.  He said his nurse in the United States used to locate the vein easily. He told me to set up a line so that he would be strong before he would be given injections. Dipo Faborode was there. I diluted two hydrocortisone ampoules (200ml). I had broken pentazocine but he said he vomited and had headache when he took it in Lagos, so, I didn’t administer pentozacine on him.

“He (Dipo) stayed with him;  I left about 7.50am. I left because it was a Sunday and I was supposed to teach at the Sunday School service. Dipo was there when I left him. I asked him when I came back. He (Dipo) was at my back when I entered. I said, ‘My Guv’, but he didn’t respond well. I gave him cardiac massage when I discovered that he was not breathing. We raised an alarm and they brought his Escalade.  He was driven against the traffic and the car was speeding. The inscription, Guv 4, on the vehicle, attracted attention. I think he would have died before he got to Biket. Dipo was there from the beginning till that time.

“Dr. Adenle knows that I am his nurse. He asked me what was given to him and I told him. Baba said what I had given him was the normal dosage for gout. He checked him and confirmed him dead. People started trooping to the hospital and Dupe came. She asked what I gave him.

“I was troubled. The formal attorney general said I should calm down. He was there to console Sister Dupe.  Dr. Adenle had to persuade Sister Dupe and her husband. “The AC CID said I should relax. I know what I could do to kill myself. I spent six days there.”

Another chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Iwo, Mr. Olaniyi Olasunkanmi, had earlier told the coroner that the late senator did not eat at the wedding of his (Olasunkanmi’s) daughter.

He stated that this was so because there was no food left but he said he served Adeleke and about 30 friends and political associates, who followed him, meat. Olasunkanmi said he was shocked when he heard that Adeleke died a day after attending his daughter’s wedding, wondering why some people would say he was poisoned at the party he attended in Iwo.

The coroner summoned Adeleke’s friend, Faborode, who the nurse said was there when he treated him and adjourned sitting till Friday.