A female psychiatric doctor at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Dr. Theresa Ugalahi, is currently battling a brain disease as a result of heavy punches she received from an officer of the Nigerian Air Force, one Dr. Okpara.
Ugalahi was said to have obstructed Okpara’s car and delayed in coming out to re-park, when the Air Force officer pounced on her, raining blows on the hapless woman.
The Point gathered that Okpara, a Wing Commander in the Nigerian Air Force, is a resident doctor in the Department of Community Medicine, OAUTHC and was Ugalahi’s neighbour at the service apartment building situated outside the hospital.
Ugalahi, a Senior Registrar 1 in the Department of Psychiatry of the hospital, had parked her car in the compound before Okpara, who had prepared for work, requested that she should remove the car, which was parked directly in front of Okpara’s apartment. But the woman was said to have delayed in responding.
Our correspondent gathered that the female doctor had urged Okpara to allow her to finish dressing before coming out to re-park the car, but Okpara reportedly kept shouting, insisting that she should remove her car immediately.
Eventually, when Ugalahi came out of her apartment to remove the car, Okpara pounced on the female doctor, who was already seated in her car and rained blows on her face, according to neighbours.
The incident happened around 8:00am on February 25, 2016.
According to a doctor, who lives in the same compound with the duo, “the parking lot within the compound is inadequate and as such, tenants would have to occasionally call each other through the security guard to move their cars in the morning, so that individuals are able to drive out.”
The eyewitness, who did not want her name mentioned because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Okpara defied all entreaties made by fellow doctors around and kept on punching Ugalahi inside the car.
She said, “Dr. Ugalahi’s car was obstructing Dr. Okpara’s car and he called her out to move her car. She had told him she was dressing up and would soon be out but he kept shouting, calling on her to make haste. When she came out, he was still abusing her, prancing up and down aggressively.
“She then told him to take it easy, since she had already told him she was dressing up and reminded him that he also did the same thing whenever his car was obstructing someone else’s.”
The source added, “As Dr. Ugalahi came out, entered her car and fastened her seat belt to drive out of the parking lot, Dr. Okpara continued barking, asking her to move her car out fast. She told him she was already in the car and asked if he wanted to move it out himself?
“He (Okpara) then said he would teach her a lesson and went swiftly around the car, opened her car door, held her dress and punched her face several times.”
The Air force officer was said to have kept punching Ugalahi until she lost consciousness.
Okpara also reportedly reached for his metal pedal-lock before he was restrained by co-tenants.
The victim, a known sickle cell anaemic patient, was rushed to OAUTH for treatment.
A doctor at the OAUTH told our correspondent that Ugalahi had been confirmed to have cerebrospinal fluid leaking from her brain.
He said the female doctor also suffered frontal bone fracture and another fracture in her nose.
“Theresa (Dr. Ugalahi) now has to decide between going for surgery to correct the facial deformity or living with a disfigured face,” he said.
When contacted on Wednesday, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors at OAUTHC, Dr. Wole Ayegbusi, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the telephone.
Ayegbusi said, “It is true. An Air force officer, who is also a doctor, beat up a female doctor. Both of them are living in the same building where the parking space is small.
“I was told that the guy wanted to go out but the female doctor parked directly behind his car. He called her to come and remove her car but the lady was dressing up, so it took a while.”
