An Ekiti-based carpenter, Okeniyi Awoyinka Bankole who sustained a spinal cord injury after falling from the roof of a building where he was contracted to work in June 2010 has cried for help.
The bedridden man who got the job from the Saint Mary Catholic Church, Odo Ora in Otun Ekiti is in a very critical condition and on his sick bed as a result of the spinal cord injury he sustained,
Speaking recently with him at his No 8, Imore Street, Otun Ekiti in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State, PMParrot  was informed that Okeniyi has been abandoned by the leadership of the hospital who contracted him for the job that led to his current in-capacitation.
PMParrot learnt that the hospital has ceased to render any medical intervention nor bother to assist in the upkeep of the unfortunate artisan. During a recent visit to his residence, the helpless man was seen on his sick bed in a complete vegetative state.
Recalling his tale of woe, Okeniyi confirmed that he had the spinal cord injury in June 2010 while he was working at the St. Mary Catholic Church, Odo Ora. “The Catholic Church where I worked before the unfortunate incident was a very big Cathedral. It was one Mr. Tokunbo who trained me in carpentry work that introduced me to the church for the project financed then by one Professor whose name I can no longer remember. We had almost finished the work when I fell from the roof top.
“When I fell down, I was taken to Adebayo Hospital in Otun Ekiti. On the second day of the incident, a Reverend Father who came to see me at Adebayo Hospital instructed that I should be taken to the Federal Medical Centre at Ido Ekiti.  When I got to the Federal Medical Centre at Ido Ekiti, the medical officers there refused to attend to me on time until my father came around and called the attention of his brother working at the Federal Government Hospital. I was again abandoned at the Federal Medical Centre at Ido Ekiti after spending one month and ten days. This was after the leaders of Saint Mary Catholic Church told me that they no longer have money to spend on me at the hospital. It was then I was taken away from the Federal Medical Centre at Ido Ekiti back to my home town at Otun Ekiti where I have been since with no hope of me surviving my current situation and predicament”.
Okeniyi said he wrote a letter to the Local Government Secretariat for assistance and the Chairman approved a sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000) but the money was not released till today. “This was during the period of Governor Ayodele Fayose’s second term in office”, he said.
He added that he married in August 2007 though his wife ran away in December 2010 when she realised that his health had become too critical to handle. “I also lost the only male child she had for me the second day she gave birth. My father too has re-married another wife since I lost my own mother many years ago. My father too no longer cares about me. I am now left at the mercy of complete strangers, neighbours and a few friends who give me money to eat once in a while where I currently live”.
Okeniyi appealed to  the Catholic Church in Ekiti State and Nigeria to help him out so that he will not die prematurely. “ I have been told that Nigerian hospitals cannot handle my case, that I need to be flown abroad for a better and more efficient medical care and attention so that I will be able to recover from my sorry state and live better even if I will not be able to walk again. I also want to beg the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the wife, Erelu Bisi Fayemi to help me out and come to my rescue because I still believe I can be useful to Ekiti State and Nigeria as a Country”
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
