The purported release of a suspected case of the COVID-19 at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Delta State, has continued to generate controversy in the state, The PUNCH reports.

The state government said the 53-year-old patient, Michael Mordi, was forced out of the treatment centre by his relatives, while the patient said doctors approved his discharged from the centre.

Mordi, a Nurse Officer at the Central Hospital, Agbor, was said to have tested positive on May 23 and was admitted at the COVID-19 treatment centre in the state.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, in a statement on Tuesday expressed displeasure with the uncooperative stance of the patient since his admission at the centre.

Ononye said, “At 6pm June 1, 2020, against all medical advice, Michael Mordi, obviously consenting, was forcefully removed from the treatment centre by seven men who claimed to be his relatives and they did not wear any protective coverings.”

Meanwhile, in a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Mordi said he was at his residence in Agbor, adding that he was allowed to go by his caregivers.

He said, “They asked me to go and my relatives came to take me home. Nobody forced me out of the place.”

He explained that he never exhibited symptoms of the disease, alleging that he was overdosed during his stay at the centre.

“They overdosed me at the centre, and there were no symptoms of the disease. It was weighing me down and having adverse effect on me.

“They gave me 10 tablets every morning and evening for the past 10 days,” he added.