"I suffered serious emotional
and psychological trauma as a
result of the news of my HIV-
positive status. This, coupled
with the loss of my employment,
contributed to a spontaneous
miscarriage of my pregnancy.
I was further victimized, rejected,
humiliated and put at great risk
when my employer refused to
carry out evacuation of the
miscarried pregnancy which he
himself prescribed, on the
ground of my HIV-positive
status.
But thank God doctors at
another hospital eventually
carried out the evacuation
procedure for me. After that, I
thought he was stating the fact
about my having little or no time
to live and so in obedience, I
relocated to my home town and
there, I waited to die but death
never came".....
Mrs. Georgina Ahamefule, is an
indigene of Imo State who tested
positive to HIV while working as
an auxiliary nurse at a certain
Medical Centre in Lagos. At first,
due to her naivety, she found
the whole world crashing on
her, no thanks to her employer,
Dr Molokwu, the Chief Medical
Director of the Medical Centre
who terminated her
employment which began in
1989 and advised her to go back
to her village and die since she
had only a little time to live.
A lot happened to this woman,
as she shares her traumatic
experiences during a
tumultuous journey to victory.
The high point of her account is
that her fighting spirit is backed
by God and the Social and
Economic Rights Action Center
(SERAC).
She won a N7-million lawsuit
against Dr Molokwu. It was a
landmark judgment for Dr. Felix
Morka, the executive Director of
SERAC who described the
judge’s decision as representing
a major victory for Georgina and
all those living with the HIV virus
in the country.
Back to Mrs. Georgina's story:
While at the village, I ran into
someone who asked me to go to
LUTH so that I would receive
help. I also obeyed.
It was while I visited LUTH that I
ran into my god-mother, Mrs
Onyewuenyi who listened to my
ordeal and referred me to
SERAC. When I visited SERAC,
they interviewed me and
subsequently, contacted my
former employer so as to see if
he will do any form of
settlement but he ignored
SERAC, so, SERAC took the
matter to court on my behalf.
The first shocker I got was right
in the court. Unfortunately, the
unfairness I suffered did not
stop at the hands of my
employer and his hospital. On
July 14, 2000, SERAC filed the
lawsuit challenging the
termination of my employment
as an auxiliary nurse by the
Medical Centre and its Chief
Medical Director, based on my
HIV-positive status.
So, the shocker like I mentioned,
happened in 2001. Right there in
the court, the then presiding
judge in the case, barred me
from entering the courtroom
because of my HIV -positive
status.
The judge further ruled that
satisfactory expert evidence
must be presented in court to
convince her that the judge and
others would not become
infected with the HIV virus as a
result of my mere physical
presence in the courtroom. It
was a huge blow on my
devastated life.
SERAC appealed that decision
and the Court of Appeal remitted
the matter back to the High
Court for trial. Thank God I was
allowed to testify in my case
without further restrictions in the
court, in the compound, and
because I made public my status
which I am glad I did. Otherwise,
I would have died out of
ignorance.
Some illiterate and ignorant
neighbours avoided me like
plague. It would have been okay
by me if they did just that, but
they went further to humiliate
me and pass silly comments
when they see me around and in
short, they looked for one
excuse or the other to tell me
the story of my life. They fought
my niece who came on holiday,
saying she had no mother which
was why she can put up with me
in my state.
In all this, I am grateful to God
for the wonderful husband He
gave me. My husband has since
then tested negative to the virus
and you may be glad to know
that I also have a son who is also
negative. God has really used Dr
Felix Morka and in fact, workers
at SERAC who have adopted me
as a part of their family, to bless
me and give me reason to live.
Indeed, they gave me reason to
live to see my dream of being
victorious come true.
I have been getting assistance
from SERAC in terms of feeding,
transportation to Lagos each
time my case came up because I
relocated with my family to
Obigbo in Rivers State; they also
helped for hospital bills.
On the issue of court case, there
was another shocker. As my case
progressed, my employer
presented false affidavit showing
that I had died in my hometown.
As you can see, I’m alive and
very healthy. So, we discovered
that the affidavit was filed in
support of a motion seeking to
dismiss my lawsuit against my
employer and his hospital. The
false declaration was one of my
employer’s and his lawyers’
strategies to frustrate my
determination to get justice in
the matter of the wrongful
termination of my employment
and other violations.
On getting information about
their wicked plan, Dr Felix Morka
called me and asked if I was okay
to travel to Lagos, I said yes and
he asked me to take the next
flight to Lagos which I did. When
I appeared at the court, my
employer and his cohorts were
shocked.
Well, to cut the long story short,
on Thursday September 27,
2012, Honorable Justice Y.O.
Idowu the judge at the Lagos
State High Court Idowu held that
the termination of my
employment by the hospital
where I worked on the ground
of my HIV-positive status is
illegal, unlawful and actuated by
malice and extreme bad faith.
So she gave an order for 5
Million Naira for general
damages for the wrongful
termination of my employment
to be paid to me and 2 Million
Naira as compensation for
unlawful conduct of HIV testing
without my informed consent
and also for negligence.
Right now, I feel on top of the
world for my victory and in fact
that is an understatement
because I can’t explain exactly
how I feel now. This is a case
that seemed impossible and in
fact if the matter was left for me
or my family to handle, it would
have died a natural death
because I’m from a poor
background.
I appreciate every effort made by
Dr Felix Morka (of SERAC) and
his workers to see me through
this victory without collecting a
kobo from me. God will bless
them. Now I will have enough to
sponsor my son who will be in
the university next year. I can
also start a good business of my
choice or better still, as part of
my own contribution, organize a
small group that will help other
people living with HIV in my
community.
Source: Vanguard
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