Former Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has finally broken his silence on his terrifying 2020 COVID-19 battle, dismissing rumours that he was secretly flown abroad and revealing how a quiet youth corps doctor changed the course of his survival.
Speaking in an interview with The Nation, Ikpeazu described the ordeal as a near-death experience that unfolded at the height of pandemic lockdowns, when air travel was heavily restricted.
According to him, he fell ill at home and had to rely on the help of a former Ebonyi State governor, who secured an aircraft from the Presidential Fleet to move him from Owerri to Lagos for treatment.
But the Lagos hospital shockingly refused to admit him until another COVID-19 test was conducted, even though he had already begun dialysis.
Ikpeazu disclosed that although he tested negative before the trip, the test was done under a different name to prevent public panic.
Then came the unexpected twist.
Amid senior consultants managing his case, it was a youth corps doctor who quietly offered the solution that saved him.
“I had a smaller doctor; a youth corps member.
“The corps doctor in the midst of the two consultants that were with me, though his voice wasn’t loud, he was like the little housemaid in Naaman’s house.
“He was barely whispering when he told me that he knows a hospital in Abuja that would do well in managing my condition.”
With Lagos shutting its doors, Ikpeazu said he had no choice but to relocate again.
The same aircraft flew him to Abuja, where he remained throughout his treatment.
He strongly denied ever leaving Nigeria, insisting the rumours of foreign treatment were false.
According to him, he was treated at Zenith Medical and Kidney Centre in the Apo area of Abuja. He revealed that a dialysis machine was installed at his residence, with a doctor and nurse stationed with him round the clock.
For between six and eight weeks, he battled quietly, undergoing treatment at home before eventually regaining his health.
