The Federal Ministry of Health, through the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric hospital in Calabar, has rescued a family of five, who have been roaming the streets of Ogoja after Progress Oberiko who is a member of National Youth Service Corps shared their touching story and it went viral.
According to Progress Oberiko, the National Youth Service Corps member, who first shared the story of the family on her Facebook page, they were rescued on Monday by the staff of the hospital.
In her latest post, Oberiko said, “Yesterday 22/10/2018, doctors, nurses and social workers from the FederalNeuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Calabar arrived Ogoja and together we went on a rescue mission.
“After contacting the notable clan head of the village (Ukpah, Bekwarra Lga) including the elder sister to the ‘special man’, the man and his wife were chemically constrained by the specialists with the help of some villagers and conveyed in their official bus with their children to the hospital in Calabar.
“Even in his sedated condition he still guarded his children and they too wailing for their parents didn’t let go, they stuck with their parents. See the kids, see how cute they look, I didn’t know whether to join them in crying as they cried for their parents or to be happy for their rescue.
“So as it is, the #ONE_BIG_FAMILY is off the streets of Ogoja/Bekwarra to get immediate attention and care.
“Whether you say they’re mad or not, whatever the case may be, good news is they have gotten attention, attention from the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
A statement from the Ministry of Health says the family of Mr. & Mrs. Ben Ogar popularly known as the Ogoja mentally deranged couple has been rescued following weeks of intense search by a team from the Cross River State Government and Federal Neuro Psychiatric hospital, Calabar, Cross River State.
Mr. Ben and his wife lost their means of livelihood about the same time six years ago while still resident in Abuja with their two kids, and what followed was a mental disorder leading to the Mr. Ben relocating himself and his wife to his country home in Ogoja where he opted to stay in a shanty rather than his father’s house.
His family rescued his first set of kids from him when he started showing signs of this disorder, and six years of roaming the streets of Ogoja produced the three kids he was rescued with.
Doctors confirmed Mr. Ben to be suffering from a mental disorder, while his wife is only having the ‘folie a deux’ syndrome as a result of her husband’s ideation.
The children, two girls and a boy, are in very stable condition and are responding to treatment very well.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong, said the family are in stable condition and are respondting well to treatment. The family will be rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society with continuous medical care and social welfare, she concluded.
Meanwhile the Honorable Commissioner for Women Affairs in the State, Mrs. Stella Odey, highligted that the family are also being offered some psycho-Social support in addition to the Medical Care already being provided by the State Government.
While her counterpart from the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Social Welfare, Mr. Oliver Orok, noted that the State Government had already provided feeding and accommodation to the couple with adequate medical scare.
The Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Health, Dr. Joseph Bassey, asserted that the State Government are partnering with Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital to ensure the family receive all the medical services they require.