MEET FRANK OSHANUGOR
By Frank Oshanugor
The Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON) has commended members of the Lagos State House of Assembly for the recent passage of the Victims Witness Protection Bill into Law.
In a statement issued at the weekend by the Executive Director of the Foundation, Barr.(Mrs) Gloria Egbuji, CRIVIFON said it was gladdening that lawmakers in Lagos could quickly domesticate the Gunshot Victims Law which came into existence about two years ago.
The Foundation further stated that the timely passage of the Bill clearly showed that the Lagos State Government was sensitive to the challenges facing gunshot and accident victims, adding that the passage of the Bill into Law would greatly reduce the encumbrances in the treatment of gunshot and accident victims by both the public and private hospitals.
With the passage of the Bill, CRIVIFON has therefore urged Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to speedily give his assent to the Bill to enable it effectively become actionable Law that would regulate the treatment of gunshot and accident victimsb in the state.
The statement added that authorities of CRIVIFON were exceptionally happy with the development as the enactment of the Law by the Lagos lawmakers would greatly reduce the incidence of gunshot and accident victims dying in the State due to the refusal of the hospitals to treat them.
The Foundation has similarly commended the Rivers State Government for taking the lead in domesticating the Gunshot Victims Law soon after the National Assembly passed the Bill into Law which subsequently received presidential assent.
It would be recalled that CRIVIFON has been at the vanguard of seeking for a law to protect victims of gunshot and accident in Nigeria from being refused treatment due to non-submission of police report at the time of admission.
In spite of efforts by police authorities and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) over the years, to intervene on behalf of gunshot and accidents victims in the hospitals, many of the hospitals both public and private had refused to attend to the victims, thereby leading to the untimely death of many.
