Rejection of Patients With Gunshot Wounds Criminal—IGP

January 26, 2021
Acting Police IG Mohammed Adamu

By Ahmed Rahma

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu, has urged doctors to treat victims of gunshot wounds first before asking them for any police report.

Mr Adamu stated this on Monday while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Newsnight programme.

According to the police chief, hospitals and doctors have been warned to desist from rejecting gunshot victims because such an act constitutes a flagrant violation of existing law.

Mr Adamu stated that doctors who reject these victims are criminally liable on account of the provision of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017.

Shedding light on the police policy on people with gunshot wounds, the police chief said, “No, we don’t do that, save life first even if it’s an individual, suspected robber or kidnapper, or bandits.

“If he or she has gunshot wounds and goes to the hospital, his life must be saved first before thinking of any other thing to do.

“There is no issue of asking for a police report before you treat anybody with gunshot wounds”, he added.

In 2017, the red chamber passed a bill seeking to establish a law that ensures that victims of gunshot wounds receive the necessary treatment.

When the law was passed, the Senate President at that time, Mr Bukola Saraki, noted that the bill was to help put a legal framework in place to prevent unnecessary loss of lives, especially as not every gunshot victim is a criminal.

“By the passage of this bill, the Senate has moved to ensure that every hospital in Nigeria, both public and private, must accept to treat victims of gunshot wounds without any clearance from the police,” Mr Saraki had said then in a statement by his media office.

“What we have done is to ensure that everyone is entitled to medical treatment, irrespective of the cause of the shooting. We should reserve judgment for the criminal justice system, and leave healthcare for the medical professionals,” he had added.

Rahma Ahmed

Ahmed Rahma is a journalist with great interest in arts and craft. She is also a foodie who loves new ideas. She loves to travel and would love to visit other African countries someday. She is a sucker for historical movies and afrobeat.

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