THE last is yet to be heard of the quarrel between multinational drug giant, Pfizer and members of the Kano Trovan Victim Forum (TVF) led by Malam Mustapha Garba Maiskeli.Members of the TVF, now renamed Kano Trovan Victims Association (KTVA) who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the DNA test conducted on them by Pfizer, are warming up to go into another round of legal battle with the company.The group is said to have instructed it's attorney to prepare for litigation all over again. It justified the resolve to return to the trenches saying it has every reason to believe that the Justice Abubakar Bashir Wali-led members of the Healthcare Meningitis Trust Fund Limited/GTE would not deliver.The group's spokesman, Maiskeli, accused the Trust Fund for pursuing interest at variance with the public good that would ensure justice for victims of the 1996 controversial Trovan drug trial during the meningitis epidemic in Kano State.The latest quarrel came to light after Pfizer's team of investigators that conducted the DNA test on the 192 members of the TVF returned an interim report indicating that only six members of the TVF met the requirement to be compensated in accordance with the agreement reached between Pfizer and the Kano State government last year.The names of two of Maiskeli's daughters that were believed to have participated in the drug trial were missing among the names of the six TVF members that made the latest Pfizer's list of claimants for compensation.The latest position by the TVF runs contrary to an earlier agreement brokered by the Kano State government between Pfizer and members of the TVF group. The latest twist, which has elicited the intervention of the state government, also holds the prospects of stalling the entire compensation process.The Guardian learnt that Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has ordered his Justice and Health commissioners, Alhaji Maliki Umar Kuliya and Dr. Abubakar Labaran to wade into the matter and explore the possibility of resolving the new dispute between the TVF's and the members of the Trust Fund amicably.The TVF group was among 547 claimants that submitted claims to the Trust Fund comprising of a panel of experts led by retired Supreme Court Justice Wali.Of this figure, 324 of the claimants who are still alive want to be compensated with cash proportionate to body harm they had suffered as a result of the Trovan drugs administered on them in 1996 while the remaining 223 said they lost either their children or close relatives. This latter group wants a higher compensation of $175,000 each.The board, which was mandated by Pfizer to manage the fund had to conduct a DNA test with the aim of sifting genuine claimants out of the entire 548 applicants that showed up for the compensation.After two separate rounds of DNA screening exercise conducted by Bode Incorporation, an outfit sponsored by Pfizer, 14 claimants out of this number have so far been identified as valid participants in the fatal 1996 Trovan drug test. Eight of the 14 identified claimants had already been assessed by the board and had received their compensation in the presence of the board members, the media and members of the public in Kano.Nobody could hazard any guess why the TVF, formed in 2006 out of the need to present a united front to seek justice for the victims of the Trovan drug trial, suddenly decided to throw spanners into the works of the Trust Fund.There are concerns that if the latest confrontation is allowed to drag for too long, the remaining genuine claimants may be denied the opportunity of receiving their compensation.When contacted, Maiskeli explained that members of his group had to back out of the deal because they later realised that they had been hoodwinked into participating in the DNA test.Claiming that administrators of the Trust Fund have an axe to grind with his members for the simple reason that they all belong to the class of the downtrodden of the Kano society, he noted that there is no doubt that the so called 'Nigerian factor' was playing its dirty hands in the current claims settlement process.He is also questioning the composition of membership of the Trust Fund.On the six persons that were adjudged qualified for compensation from his group, Maiskeli described the outcome of the DNA test as unacceptable, adding that it underlined the fact that members of the board lacked the capacity to conduct the compensation exercise.'It has to do with the hanky-panky manner they always use in handling our matter. That is what is wrong with them,' he said, adding that it is surprising that the board is placing so much emphasis on the DNA test even after Pfizer itself in a letter dated March 16, 2001 from the office of Mr. Robert Tade, limited the requirement for compensation to only birth, sex, and patient initials.He noted: 'One Robert Tade who was the chairman and managing director of Pfizer said they didn't have any piece of information about the Trovan participants and they only have the participants' initials, age and gender and that any other record can be found in the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) where the test was conducted. Unfortunately for Pfizer, the clan that constitutes the meningitis Trust Fund board in Kano has adopted selfish tactics to frustrate my group because I refused to sell my conscience hence they went on air to mislead the world with the aim of bringing confusion into the process. They said they got eight claimants that qualified even after we have 192 claimants on our list. I am sure if we take this matter up with Pfizer again, I am sure it will not augur well for them. I am sure Pfizer would not dare do what they are trying to do to us now in Nigeria.'The healthcare trust fund is doing this on the grounds of grudge to punish and make the victims suffer because of their role in the past in exposing the crimes of some members of the board as well as the two indigenous doctors who facilitated Trovan test in 1996 but who are still covered and protected.'Continuing, he noted: 'The TVA stand on DNA is that although the foreign consultants could be genuine experts in their field, the fact shows that none of the local medical doctors appointed on the compensation board is a DNA expert. Rather, they are paediatricians, hence none of them is DNA literate or could read and understand whether DNA result is genuine or manipulated against the victims.'Another important reason why doctors on the compensation board couldn't be trusted by the TVA is that they all work in the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and are close associates.'Said he: 'We participated in the DNA test because we were paid consolation allowance and we thought that it was going to be fair and just. But in this regard, there is no sign of that. Some people are there with the aim of discrediting my own union.'On insinuation that he was kicking against the entire process because the names of his two daughters didn't make the list released by the board, he said: 'Let me tell you, I am not scared about this blackmail. My own children participated. My two daughters participated, the initials are there; their age is there. I have their records. They are all dead. I have all their records. Her pictures are there even in London. They know how I got it and Pfizer knew.'Even if the names of my daughters were listed among the six, I would still have rejected it for sure. When we started this struggle, we all agreed that whatever we will do must be transparently done. Even if they say I am the only qualified person, I will not accept it. I will continue this fight. We will go back to litigation. I don't agree with this report based on the DNA they claim to have; they do not have it'Why didn't they say they will do DNA during our negotiations' They know we have this letter. Let them deny it.''To be continued
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