A disagreement has arisen between the family of a 42-year-old woman, Adunola Abiola, and a Lagos-based ambulance provider, Medical Ambulance Service, over the circumstances surrounding her death following a hospital transfer in November 2025.
In a letter dated December 16 and addressed to the Managing Director of the firm, Mrs Dara Mould, the family’s lawyer, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), allAbiola, a critically ill and ventilator-dependent patient, died as a result of failures during her transfer between hospitals in Lagos.
Falana said the deceased, whose ailment was not disclosed, had previously been transported across three continents under intensive medical supervision and remained clinically stable before her arrival in Nigeria last year.
According to the letter, Abiola was initially eged that admitted to Genesis Hospital, GRA, Ikeja, and was later referred to Emazur Multispecialist Hospital, Ojuelegba, for further care.
The ambulance firm was reportedly engaged to convey the patient to the second facility, based on assurances that it had the expertise, equipment and personnel required for such a critical transfer.
However, the family alleged that while en route, the ambulance suffered a power failure, causing the ventilator supporting the patient to shut down.
Falana said the situation forced the ambulance crew to resort to manual ventilation, which allegedly destabilised the patient’s condition.
He further alleged that the vehicle stalled during the journey due to operational lapses, including inadequate fuel and the absence of a functional siren, thereby worsening delays in Lagos traffic.
“These failures, taken together, amount to gross negligence and a reckless disregard for the life entrusted to your care,” the letter read.
Falana claimed that the interruption of life-support equipment led to multiple cardiac arrests suffered by the patient, who was later pronounced dead.
He demanded that the company investigate the incident and forward its findings within five days, warning that legal action would follow if the request was ignored.
Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the deceased’s mother, Mrs Folashade Abiola, said the ambulance broke down around the Maryland area of Lagos during the transfer.
“I was inside the ambulance that day. Suddenly, the vehicle stopped and everything went off, including the siren, while my daughter was on a ventilator,” she alleged.
She added that the incident left the family traumatised, claiming there was no functional backup power supply to sustain the ventilator.
The deceased’s sister, Titilayo, who said she followed the ambulance in another vehicle, described the service as incompetent and insisted that the breakdown directly contributed to her sister’s death.
She said the family initially reached out to the company via email but later involved their lawyer after what she described as an unsatisfactory response. She added that the firm failed to respond to their counsel’s formal request, prompting plans for legal action.
Reacting, the Managing Director of Medical Ambulance Service, Mrs Dara Mould, denied all allegations, insisting that the ambulance neither broke down nor stopped at any point during the journey.
She told Saturday PUNCH that CCTV footage and GPS data from the ambulance showed uninterrupted movement throughout the transfer, adding that the patient was continuously ventilated during the trip.
Mould said the company’s ambulances were equipped with monitoring and recording systems to ensure accountability, stressing that claims of equipment failure or loss of ventilation support were false.
She added that relevant footage had been preserved and made available to the company’s lawyers.