Nigerian Medical Association Condemns Police Harassment Of Doctors For Treating Gunshot Victims

By Charles Nwabardi

President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Dr. Innocent Ujah, has urged the Nigerian police to stop harassing medical doctors for treating patients with gun wounds, insisting that there is no law which requires doctors to demand a police report before treating gunshot victims.

He stated this in reaction to the Bill by Senator Oluremi Tinubu seeking the amendment of the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act 2017. President Muhammadu Buhari, had in 2017, signed the Bill into Law.

Reacting to the development on “Sunrise Daily,” a Channels Television Programme on Friday, Ujah said: “As doctors, we don’t need police reports in emergency cases to treat patients. What you need to do is to save the life of the patients,”

“Unfortunately, the law enforcement agencies in this country have lost their bearing in terms of control, they have no business asking us to get police reports before we treat emergency situations.

“The Nigeria police should be educated on the role of the medical doctor. A medical doctor doesn’t need any permission before he attends to any emergency. We don’t even ask for fees.” You must first get the patient alive before you would think about fees.

“The reality on ground is that when you do that you may be an accomplice; they may accuse you of hobnobbing or hiding, in cases of armed robbery and the rest,” he stated.