Over 120 million naira worth of property was lost to the invasion, vandalisation and looting of headquarters of the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS) on Saturday, 24th October, 2020.
Office equipment including electronics, ICT equipments, furniture medicines drugs carted away by hoodlums who attacked the agency was valued around 77.7 million naira.
The Executive Secretary of OHIS, Dr. Niyi Ogini disclosed this on Monday while addressing journalists on the extent of losses incurred by the agency.
Recounting the ordeal, Dr. Ogini said “on the said day, rampaging hoodlums besieged the agency’s head office and OHIS Drug Distribution Centre (OHIS DDC) that share the same compound with the state central medical store which housed the mosquito nets currently being distributed across the state by the state malaria programme”.
He stated that “the hoodlums who were said to have observed that there were many heavy duty and luxurious vehicles moving in and out of the complex on Friday 23rd, October, 2020 suspected that the warehouse must contain some COVID-19 palliatives and decided to storm the complex with all manner of weapons and tools on the said day”.
He recalled that the state Governor, Gboyega Oyetola had last year released the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira take-off grant to establish the agency and another Four Hundred and Seventy Seven Million Naira as equity grant to fund the vulnerable programme of Osun Health Insurance Scheme (OHIS) which is meant to provide quality healthcare for the poorest of the poor at no cost to them whatsoever.
“Over One hundred and Sixty seven thousand (167,000) enrollees including civil servants, self employed and vulnerable indigent persons are already enjoying the scheme with another list of 24,712 vulnerable persons and people living with disability whose vulnerability status has just been validated waiting for enrolment and empanelment to healthcare facilities where they would have started receiving healthcare free of charge from November, 2020. There are 86 healthcare facilities both public and private already providing primary and secondary care to our enrollees across the state”.
“In addition, in order to ease the problem of out of stock syndrome of medicines for OHIS enrollees the Governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola gave approval for the agency to establish OHIS Drug Distribution Centre with a ssed stock of 25,000,000 Naira to supply medicines and consumables to all government hospitals accredited for service provision under the scheme”.
“This way our enrollees have been enjoying supply of drugs contained in our Essential Medicine List whenever they present to our hospitals. This incidentally is the first of its kind to be operated by any state health insurance agency in the country and has now been vandalized with more than half the drugs carted away by hoodlums” he stated.
The Executive Secretary however appealed to residents of the state and all landlords who see electronic equipments, computers, printers, furniture, generators, refrigerators and drugs being brought to their houses to please law enforcement agents promptly.
“Please help the government to continue to provide quality healthy services to the good people of our state through under OHIS which has become a household name in the state. Please let us stop this destruction of our commonwealth and allow government settle down to serve us better” Dr. Ogini appealed.
He urged the looters to take advantage of Governor Oyetola’s 72 hour amnesty period to return the loots as the opportunity may not be enjoyed after the expiration of the the ultimatum.
The head of Security of OHIS in a chat with Daily Mail said he was on duty on the fateful day when the hoodlums invaded the complex.
He said the hoodlums threatened to kill him for refusing to open the gate for them to gain access into the complex.
According to him, the hoodlums broke into the premises around 8:05 in the morning and started looting and vandalising the agency’s property which they claimed it was the own being that of government.
“Are you the government? We are the government and it is our property. We will kill you today if you don’t allow us to take them. At that point, I had to escape and call the Executive Secretary and all the Directors”, the security guard recounted.
