Charles Nwaoguji
In response to the widespread violence across the country that marred the peaceful #EndSARS protests and led to some deaths with many people injured and hospitalised, Coca-Cola Nigeria and its bottling partners (NBC) has made a N20 million donation to an NGO, Whitefield Foundation, to help defray the medical bills of some of the hospitalised victims.
Over the past three weeks, Whitefield Foundation has processed over 900 requests from across the country, most of which were found to be unrelated to the #EndSARS incidents. At the end, 185 patients being treated in 23 hospitals across 9 states including Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Lagos, Edo, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Plateau as well as the FCT, Abuja, benefited from the intervention fund.
The patients are being treated for various degrees of injuries, including gunshots wounds with amounts ranging from N10,000 to N300,000 being disbursed directly to their respective hospitals on their behalf. Unfortunately, some of the patients have had to undergo amputation and will be provided with prosthetic limbs, to enhance their ability to function normally post-recovery. About 30 per cent were outpatients while 70 per cent were on admission of which 21 per cent had been discharged as at Thursday, November 12, 2020.