By Cosmas Omegoh

Anyone with gunshot wounds has to be treated first in any medical facility, be it private or public, before anything else. This is the position of the police, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and other stakeholders.   

Until now, many had held that anyone who sustained injuries suspected to be from gunshots had to be left on his or her own and not be attended to until a police report is obtained authenticating that the victim is not an armed robber.

Over time, many innocent people had suffered gravely – and even died – all because caregivers kept awaiting a police report that never came.

But the Police Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed that such directive had long been jettisoned. 

Now, individuals with gunshot wounds can be treated provided that the hospital management notifies the police about them within 24 hours.

At the moment, some governments are trying to change this narrative. They are giving legislative reinforcement to the need to save the life of people with gunshot wounds.  

On September 15, 2022, for instance, Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike signed Rivers State Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Law No. 3 of 2022.

The law backs the right of victims of gunshots to be saved.

A cross section of Nigerians has commended this narrative. 

Those who spoke to Sunday Sun acknowledged that anyone can be a victim of gunshot. 

They commended the effort of the Rivers State government for the initiative.

Former directive archaic, barbaric

The former Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Adesina Ogunlana,  believes that denying gunshot victims treatment is both archaic and barbaric.  

“If the law to the effect that people with gunshot wounds should be treated without the necessity of police report, I’m in support of it.

“It is only a sensible thing to do. Someone is shot at, he has bullets lodged in their system; it is only fitting that he should be treated, while the security agencies are notified. It is life first,” he emphasized. 

He said whether that law is driven by the spate of insecurity in the country or not, it does not matter.

“What is very important here is that there is an exigency. The victim is suffering and should be given urgent medical treatment on account of our common humanity. Someone is suffering threat to life. Yes, he could be a criminal, but many in such a situation are innocent.

“In such instance, how will the medical personnel be weighing whether the victim is an armed robber or a victim of kidnap who has just escaped his captors? You don’t do that. Therefore, the patient should be treated like an accident victim,” he noted. 

He praised the Rivers State government for its effort, declaring: “That law is timely.

“What they have told us is that we should not commonise human life in Nigeria like we have always done.

“Even an armed robber deserves to be saved so that he will face the due process of the law.”  

Turning to the former directive he declared: “That particular directive is inhumane; it is backward.

“Such directive forces medical doctors to act against their Hippocratic Oath, which is to save life first. I can imagine one brought in with gunshot wounds gasping for breath and fighting for life. Then a doctor asks ‘where is your police report?’

“The duty of medical personnel is to save life. How then would they do that if they say that the individual be carried back to the police to issue a report before they start work?  

“That means the individual will die; many people have died in that condition; that I know. That is why that directive or law is barbaric. It shows that those of them in government don’t value citizens’ lives.

“Leaving an individual unattended to  because he has no police report is a clear denial of his right to life, and dignity. We should realise that life is sacred and sacrosanct. Therefore, we shouldn’t use any barbaric directive to scuttle the life of anyone.”   

Rivers law will help society  

Meanwhile, a sociologist and social commentator, Mr Obioma Nwogu has described the new law “as a welcome development.  

“If the police say this is the way to go, that is welcome.”

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He recalled that “a lot of people have lost their lives in the past – all because they were not given the treatment they urgently required – just because the hospitals were afraid of what the police would do.

“When someone is shot and the hospital is demanding police report, there are greater chances that the individual will die before the police report is obtained.”

He contended that “even if the victim is an armed robber, morality requires that you save his life first. Who knows how much he will help in investigation? With him the police will able to know other accomplices and how they operate.

“Therefore, a directive that he should not be treated is to say the least rigid and archaic. It ought not to have any place in Nigeria’s legal statute.

“Whether it is a law or police directive, what it means is that gunshot victims should die.”

He expressed happiness that the directive had taken the life of a law in Rivers State, saying: “We also commend the Rivers State government under Governor Nyesom Wike for that.

“Now, those overzealous policemen would know that they are obliged to obey the law of the land.”

Treat victims first, save lives –NMA

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Jide Onyemelukwe, has said it is untrue that his members have not been attending to victims of gunshots.   

“Our position has always been that patients with gunshot wounds should be treated, but a report must be made to the police within 24 hours.

“The victim has to be alive first. He has to be alive to face trial if he is a criminal.

“Often, the victims are not criminals, but victims of collateral damage. Someone could be passing by and gets shot.

“Our position is that any injury whatsoever must be treated with or without police report. Thereafter, a report can be made to the police within 24 hours.”

He explained that his colleagues had long been told to comply with this directive so as to save lives.

“Each and every one of us knows that it is the duty of a doctor to save lives.

“But it is the position of the law to say whether the life saved is guilty or not. It is not within the right of the medical personnel to pass judgment on anyone. Therefore, whether one is a criminal or not, once injured, we treat; life must be saved.

“It is, therefore, the duty of the state to determine whether the life saved is guilty of any allegation or not and not the position of the doctor to pass judgment on anyone.”

He urged people to approach any hospital to be treated if they are shot, saying:  “Let life be saved and let the law take its normal course,” suggesting that “it is a win-win situation for everybody.”

Gunshot victims must be treated –Police

According to FPRO, Adejobi, what went down in Rivers State is in tandem with the position of the police.  

“Previous Inspectors General of Police had emphasised on that in the past.

“The police have always been telling medical doctors to treat patients with gunshot wounds, and accident victims too without requesting for any police report. They must be attended to first.

“Where there is no police report, they can contact the nearest Divisional Police Officer and inform him of the presence of a patient with gunshot wounds to help the police in their investigations.

“The first duty is to save life. That is the position of the police,” he explained. 

He expressed regret that there had been doctors who had not been cooperating with the police in this regard.

He said: “The criminals know this. So, they choose to patronise those doctors. Some of those criminals go to quack doctors; some of them prefer native doctors/healers operating in the bushes.”

He warned that “this is another clarion call to the traditional healers to be mindful of their actions. Don’t just accept a patient with gunshot wounds without contacting the police.”

He emphaised that “the law is there; if you are caught treating an armed robber who sustained gunshot injuries during crossfire, it will be adjudged that you are a party to that crime.”

He also commended the Rivers State government for its effort, and urged others to toe that same line of action, adding that “we urge them to domesticate such laws across the country because we have been losing many lives in the course of negligence or rejecting patients. Our position is: accept gunshot victims treat them; then other things will follow.”