The Acting Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun has directed police officers to ensure that victims of gunshot injuries receive prompt treatment from hospitals without fear of police harassment.
The directive is coming on the heel of the death of Ms Olorunfemi, a community developer and member of the Young African Leaders Initiative Network (YALI) who was reportedly pushed out of a moving vehicle along the Maitama-Kubwa highway earlier this month by hoodlums who had robbed her.
The Nigerian senate had in 2017, passed a bill seeking to establish a law that ensures that victims of gunshot wounds receive the necessary treatment. The Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Act, seeks to prevent medical workers from denying care to gunshot victims.
According to the Senate President at that time, Bukola Saraki, the bill would 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,” Saraki was quoted as saying in a statement by his media office.
In a letter addressed to police DIGs, AIGs and CPs, dated October 25 and signed by CP Olatunji Disu, the Principal Staff Officer to the IGP, Agbatokun directed the officers to abide and enforce the provision of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Act 2007 without any hesitation.
The letter also directed the police officers to “ make it a subject of lectures and circulate widely for members of the public to be aware of our compliance with the National law”
