Midnight Panic Ends in Shocking Lifeline for Badagry Family

(Emergency Bus. Photo by Vanguard News)

A Badagry resident, Muhammad Armayau, has praised Lagos State's emergency response system after his seven-month-old daughter, who fell seriously ill during a downpour, received timely medical attention.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Armayau explained that his family had been left stranded in the middle of the night when the infant developed a high fever, as no vehicle was available to get her to hospital.

He said the baby had been running a temperature for two days before her condition took a turn for the worse.

He recounted that things came to a head when a thermometer reading of 38.5°C sent the household into panic.

With rain pouring heavily outside and no transport in sight, he and his wife resorted to sponging the baby down with a damp towel in an effort to bring the fever under control while they waited for the weather to ease.

Relief came, he said, after he placed a call to the state's toll-free emergency number, 112, at roughly 4:07 a.m.

He recalled that the officer who took the call asked for his address and a nearby landmark almost immediately after picking up on the baby's crying in the background.

About twenty minutes on, he received a call back from the Lagos Emergency Response Call Centre confirming that an ambulance had been sent out, with the crew working out with him how best to find the family given how dark it was.

By 5:07 a.m., once the rain had let up, he was informed that the ambulance had arrived and was waiting at Checkpoint Bus Stop, where the family went to meet the medical team.

Following an assessment of the child, medics advised that she be taken on to General Hospital, Badagry, since the family's closest facility, the Primary Health Centre at Ilepo, does not run a 24-hour service.

Armayau noted that the ambulance had been unable to reach his home directly because the Ibiye–Checkpoint–Magbon road had become difficult to pass following the rains, and pointed out that the vehicle had covered around 24 kilometres from the Badagry hospital to reach them, which he called a remarkable effort.

He said the baby was attended to without delay once they reached the hospital.

His expenses came to ₦2,000 for opening a patient file, ₦8,000 for lab work that included a Full Blood Count and a malaria test, and roughly ₦4,000 for medication.

He noted that had his Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme cover still been active, the entire bill would have come to about ₦1,400.

Beyond those costs, he said there was no charge for consultation or for the ambulance itself, and described the whole episode as proof that public services can genuinely benefit residents.

He also commended General Hospital, Badagry, for how clean it was and spoke well of the dedication shown by the staff on duty.

At the same time, he called on the Lagos State Government to fix the Ibiye–Checkpoint–Magbon road, bring in more doctors at the Badagry hospital, convert the Ilepo Primary Health Centre into a round-the-clock facility, improve power supply in the area, and roll out a unified electronic medical records system across government hospitals.

He did, however, acknowledge that infrastructure work already under way in Badagry, including road repairs and upgrades around the hospital, and said improved roads would go a long way in strengthening emergency response and saving lives.

Armayau said the kind of experience he had gone through was one he had always associated with developed countries, and expressed appreciation to the Lagos State Emergency Response Team and frontline health workers for their commitment to saving lives.