The Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebholo, has settled the medical bills of a pregnant woman and her husband receiving treatment for severe burns following a fire incident in Ekpoma.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Patrick Ebojele.
According to the statement, the governor made the intervention during a visit to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, where he also paid the medical bills of several other patients admitted in different wards of the facility.
Speaking with journalists after the visit, Okpebholo explained that the pregnant woman had initially approached him seeking financial assistance for her husband, who sustained severe burns in the fire incident.
He said the situation became more urgent when members of his medical team discovered that the woman was due for delivery and immediately arranged for her to be taken to the hospital.
“The woman came to seek help for her husband because they were looking for money to pay his bills. When my doctors saw her and observed she was due, they rushed her to the hospital immediately, where she later gave birth through a cesarean operation,” the governor said.
Okpebholo disclosed that doctors later carried out a successful cesarean section which led to the safe delivery of the baby.
“We have agreed with the hospital management to pay the bills and those of other patients we met in the ward. So they have no reason to worry about payment of bills. By this, their treatment can continue,” he added.
The governor expressed optimism that the victims receiving treatment would recover soon.
“By the grace of God, we believe that the man and others in the ICU unit will recover speedily,” he said.
Okpebholo further explained that beyond assisting the family involved in the fire incident, he also directed that the medical bills of several other patients receiving treatment in different wards of the hospital be paid by the state government.
He said the gesture forms part of his administration’s commitment to supporting residents of Edo State, particularly those facing medical emergencies and financial difficulties.
Patients and their relatives who benefited from the governor’s intervention expressed appreciation for the gesture, describing it as timely relief from the burden of rising hospital bills.
