By Gloria Egbuji
Activist-lawyer Gloria Egbuji writes on the tortuous journey that culminated in the enactment of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act and its domestication by Rivers and Lagos State governments
The signing into law of the “Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Bill” on September 15, 2022 by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the passing of the “Victims Witness Protection Bill” on September 22, 2022 by the Lagos State House of Assembly have come as a further step on a journey that began way back in the late 20th Century. With the signing of the Bill into Law by Governor Wike, Rivers State has unarguably taken the lead in domesticating the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots and Accidents Act, 2017 with Lagos State coming as the second state in the domestication regime.
The passage of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots and Accidents Bill, 2017 by the National Assembly into Law and the subsequent presidential assent in January, 2018 finally put to rest an advocacy started by the Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON), the media and other social activists more than two decades ago.
Introduced during the Fourth Assembly, the Bill had come following countless number of petitions, calls and press statements by members of the public asking medical practitioners to treat victims of gunshot wound and accidents without subjecting them to excruciating experience of having to obtain police report before receiving treatment.
How it all began
Historically, records reveal that the Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON; a non-governmental organisation, way back in 1998 had championed the course of gunshots and accidents victims by urging medical staff in private and public hospitals to admit the victims for treatment before asking them to produce police report. The Post Express Newspaper of July 23, 1998 had quoted the CRIVIFON Executive Director, Mrs. Gloria Egbuji as saying that “some doctors are still subjecting gunshot and motor accident victims with injuries to the difficult task of getting police report before accepting them for treatment.”
She was further quoted as saying that “government-owned hospitals are preponderant among those mentioned in Lagos.” Mrs. Egbuji had then “urged medical practitioners to always remember that they are on oath to save lives always and should therefore not make distinction or show discriminatory attitude simply because of one suspicion or the other.”
The fight against medical personnel
Over the years, CRIVIFON in collaboration with social crusaders like Mr. Arnold Obomanu, and other ‘anonymous stakeholders’ providing moral and logistics support, had not relented as they continued to issue press releases condemning the attitude of some medical staff who have refused to treat gunshot and accident victims in spite of reported warnings from police high command asking the hospitals to give treatment to such victims before asking for police report. They did the ground work that paved the way for National Assembly members to consider the necessity for a legislation in support of victims.
In 2009 also, the then Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo had urged medical practitioners to save victims of gunshots and motor accidents before reporting to the police. He made a similar pronouncement in 2010, but the harassment continued ostensibly because the pronouncements were not backed up by law.
As stated earlier by Mrs. Gloria Egbuji (on behalf of CRIVIFON) in a press statement of September 23, 2009, the problem of refusal to treat gunshot victims had originated from the 1986 amendment of the Robbery & Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree No. 21 of 1984 which added a new provision in Section 4(2) to read, “it shall be the duty of any person, hospital or clinic that admits, treats or administers any drugs to any person suspected of having bullets to immediately report the matter to the police. As she further stated, this was “the pivot which the police used in issuing a directive banning emergency medical attention for gunshot victims without prior police permission.”
The directive was subsequently cancelled by the police via press releases one of which was issued soon after the death of Guardian journalist; Mr. Bayo Ohu in September, 2009. The journalist was shot by unknown gunmen at his residence in Lagos and was said to have been rushed to an hospital, but the medical staff refused to accept him on the ground that there was no police report. As effort was being made to take him to another hospital, he gave up on the way. The report of this incident triggered off some reactions from members of the public who roundly condemned attitude of the hospital staff. The practice did not however, stop with Ohu’s death but continued to spread.
Victims and dilemma of Police officers
Prior to the passage of the Gunshot Bill into Law, the underlying fact was that on one hand, the police need to ensure security and obtain information from the victims and on the other hand, doctors and passersby needed to save lives of injured gunshot victims.
Sometime in the late 1990s precisely in 1998 when the refusal to accept gunshot victims was becoming rampart in a place like Lagos, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had spoken openly urging its members to comply with the subsequent directive by the police which reversed the earlier position that prohibited doctors from treating gunshot victims without police report. The NMA then, under the leadership of Dr. George Okpagu had threatened at a time to clamp down on hospitals/clinics which were refusing to treat victims of gunshot and motor accidents without police report.
Victims’ families were urged to report such recalcitrant hospitals and clinics to the authorities of NMA for necessary disciplinary measures, but the illegal practice continued in some quarters unabated, thus leading to the deaths of many innocent citizens of Nigeria some of whom were victims of stray bullets or knocked down by moving vehicles.
First attempt at framing of the Gunshot Bill
The Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria sometime during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration had worked with some National Assembly members such as Hon. Mayor Eze, Senators Osita Izunaso, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora in pushing for a Bill on the matter. The collaboration laid the foundation for the initial framing of the Gunshot Bill which unfortunately did not scale through at that time.
The collaboration continued when Goodluck Jonathan took over as the President. Senator Mamora and others tried to carry it further, but it did not also materialise even though while the effort was going on at the National Assembly, CRIVIFON whipped up public support through social media platforms like the Yahoo and FaceBook posts articulating the issue of gunshot victims and the impact, trying to get people to put pressure on the representatives at the National Assembly.
Over the years, CRIVIFON in collaboration with social crusaders like Mr. Arnold Obomanu, and other ‘anonymous stakeholders’ providing moral and other supports continued to issue press releases condemning the attitude of some medical staff who have refused to treat gunshot and accident victims in spite of reported warnings from police high command asking the hospitals to give treatment to such victims before asking for police report. They did the ground work that paved the way for National Assembly members to consider the necessity for a legislation in support of victims.
In 2009 precisely another concerned Nigerian; Mrs. Emem Andrew witnessed an incident where someone accidentally shot at a wedding by a trigger-happy policeman had to be amputated because he did not get timely medical care. The clinic he was rushed to, refused to treat him without a police report and it took too long to get the report. Being her first encounter with this kind of situation, Mrs. Andrew was shocked, and same with some of her friends. Another incident that came to their attention was the careless death of Bayo Ohu, the Guardian reporter who died from gunshot wounds after he was rejected by several hospitals.
This made Mrs. Andrew to work with Mr. Obomanu and other friends to realize that it was a national problem and needed to be tackled at that level. So they started researching and found out that many people, including prominent members of the society, had died for similar reasons.
They also found out that Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON) had been in the forefront of confronting the issue for years before then. They did not hesitate in seeking for collaboration with CRIVIFON so that they could leverage on the Foundation’s experience and network while they brought in new energy and support.
It therefore became imperative for CRIVIFON and its new partners to connect with the national leadership of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to work together to jointly address their respective need for security information and support the need for medical personnel to promptly treat injuries without fear of police harassment. While this was going on, they partnered with some key legislators in the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass a bill on the compulsory treatment of gunshot victims.
Thorny road to passage of a bill
Despite the best efforts including writing articles and the online mobilization of Nigerians to call and write National Assembly members to prioritize the bill, it was only passed in the House of Representatives before electoral politics took over. The Senate failed to pass their version and the partners had to wait for a new session to work with new members of the National Assembly. However, it is heart-warming to say that the initial advocacy created the ambience and made provisions that aided the framing of the bill which was eventually passed into law under President Muhammadu Buhari.
It is important to note that due to the non-compliance by the hospitals, police and some other parties in the implementation of the Compulsory Treatment of Gunshot Injury Act passed by the National Assembly in 2017, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) convinced that the Act is yet to yield its full benefit to Nigerians as there are widely reported cases of victims of gunshot injury being denied treatment by hospitals and clinics on grounds of fear of arrest by officers of the Nigerian Police Force, and other unexplained reasons decided to bring together critical stakeholders relevant to the full implementation of the Act, for purposes of synergy and collaboration towards the treatment of victims of gunshot injury as provided for by the Act. The representatives of the various stakeholder institutions and bodies invited to a dialogue met with the NBA Human Rights Committee chaired by Dr. Mike Ozekhome; a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)
Among the recent victims of gunshot who died as a result of refusal of hospitals to treat them without police report even after the enactment of the Gunshot Victims Act were a gospel music producer cum final year Higher National Diploma (HND) student at Ibadan Polytechnic popularly known as Ebenezer Ayeni was shot on Thursday 10th June, 2021 at his Ibadan, Oyo State residence by armed robbers few days to his wedding. He was said to have been rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan and later a private hospital but reportedly rejected by hospital staff who demanded a police report before they could treat his gunshot injury. He died hours later in a pool of his own blood.
On April 15, 2021, a 32-year-old Odiri Onosigho; an accountant was similarly shot by armed robbers who were trying to collect his phone at First Gate Bus Stop, FESTAC in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos. The accountant allegedly lost his life after being rejected by hospitals due to non-presentation of police report.
The NBA-led stakeholders forum
So, based on this unseemly occurrences; the NBA prompted its Human Rights Committee to organize the stakeholders conference. Interestingly, CRIVIFON with its strategic partners were invited as one of the major stakeholders to the one day conference which held on November 10, 2021 at the Conference Room, Nigerian Bar Association National Secretariat in Abuja. Representatives of the following bodies were invited as members of the Committee to the one day event: Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Medical Association, Federal Ministry of Health, National Human Rights Commission, Nigerian Army.
Others were Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Civil Defense Corp, Federal Road Safety Commission, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, Senate Committee on Judiciary and Human Rights, House of Representative Committee of Judiciary and Human Rights, Office of the National Security Adviser, Senate Committee of Health, House of Representative Committee on Health, National Orientation Agency,Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Christian Association of Nigeria, Jama’atu nasir Islamm Office of Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Public Interest Advocacy Initiative and Crime Victims Foundation.
The one-day stakeholders’ dialogue had the following terms of reference (1) To identify areas of concern by the Nigerian Police Force and other stakeholders hindering the successful implementation of the Act and propose approaches to overcome such concerns (2) To fashion out collaborative efforts between government agencies and stakeholders (3) To draw up a national framework for the sensitization and orientation of citizens on their roles and responsibilities as provided for under the Act, (4) Signing of Memorandum of Collaboration between stakeholders and (5) Make further recommendations as may be necessary for the implementation of the Act.
As rightly expected, the one-day event ended with some far reaching resolutions towards enhancing the workability of the Gunshot Victims Act with little or no further encumbrances. These resolutions among other things were that :
* The Nigeria Police shall make available the phone contact of the All State Commissioners of Police; Police Public Relations Officers (PPRO) in the 36 States Police Command including the FCT; Deputy inspector General of Police and liaison officer for the Inspector General of Police to Medical Doctors, hospital and clinics through their umbrella bodies to be able to reach out to the Police in the discharge of their rights and obligations under the Act.
* There should be advocacy for the domestication of the Act in all the States of the Federation for implementation at grassroots level,
* Sensitization and awareness on the provision of the Act shall be intensified and taken to the citizens at the grassroots through religious institutions like churches and mosques, traditional institutions, Media houses and agencies of government like the National Orientation Agency (NOA) which has presence in the 774 local governments across the country with officers who are indigenous to the local communities.
* The Ministry of health shall come up with a National Policy/Action Plan for Hospitals and Clinics to implement the provisions of the Act. This Plan/ policy may also provide for subsidies to Hospitals and Clinics to carry out their obligations under the Act,
* Security agents like the Nigerian Police and Federal Road Safety Commission should continue to sensitize and enlighten their officers on their respective obligations under the Act considering their primary responsibility which is the protection of lives guaranteed as a fundamental right of every citizen *There should be a strong collaboration with Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, (AGPMPN) to sensitize their members on the Act particularly the mandatory and unconditional obligation placed on hospitals and clinics to provide treatment to victims of gunshot.
* Agencies of government, including the Federal Consumers Competitive and Protection Council (FCCPC) and National Orientation Agency (NOA) to make awareness through local, mass and social media as well as through banners to be placed in hospitals and clinics clearly outlining the rights of victims and the duties/ responsibilities of the police, hospital/ clinics and the citizens under the Act for further enlightenment.
*The Nigerian Bar Association shall be actively involved in the process of amendment of the Act before the National Assembly and shall serve as a guide to lawmakers to correct the grey areas identified in the Act so as to surmount the challenges bedeviling the effective implementation of the Act as identified by Stakeholders,
* The National Assembly should consider expanding the definition of ‘victims’ under the Act to include victims of stabbing and other attacks` using other weapons as same has become also prevalent across the country and (10) The Nigerian Bar Association shall utilize public interest litigation to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Act.
States that have domesticated the law
The Nigerian Bar Association had embarked on the stakeholders’ dialogue by virtue of its status as the leading Public Interest Organization in Nigeria, charged with the responsibility of protecting Rule of Law and Human Rights. Interestingly, Rivers State could not hesitate in keying into the resolutions of the Stakeholders conference as it went on to domesticate the Gunshot Victims Act through its legislative organ. Lagos State in following suit with its “Victims Witness Protection Bill” of September 22, 2022 in domesticating the Act made some additions to protect witnesses and victims in the state. When signed into Law, it will provide for the rights and entitlement of victims and protection of witnesses and for connected purposes.”The Lagos Victims Witness Protection Bill also stipulates “provision of assistance and protection to victims and witnesses who have vital information that could help ensure effective protection of cases but who face intimidation due to their cooperation with the prosecution or law enforcement agencies.”
Senate’s attempt at stopping doctors’ disregard for human life
The Senate in October, 2021 in a yet another move to end the flagrant disregard of human life by medical doctors, considered and passed for Second Reading a Bill seeking to amend the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017 to enforce treatment for victims of gunshots injury without a police report. The Bill which was sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu among others, seeks to establish the Medical Emergency Assistance Fund to cover the treatment of victims of gunshot, knife wounds and other life-threatening emergencies.
The Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIVIFON) and its partners believe that while we push other States to also domesticate the law, we must improve awareness and compliance to the law. We must create massive sensitization of the populace on this issue and be prepared to sue defaulters and make a public example of them so that others will learn from them.
Late Ebenezer Ayeni Vs University Ibadan
It is interesting that the case of the Late Ebenezer Ayeni is already in court. While the police has not commenced criminal prosecution of the suspected offenders in the death of Ayeni, his family has taken a civil action against parties whose agents played ignoble role that subsequently led to Ebenezer Ayeni’s death.
In the suit filed at an Ibadan High Court, Ayeni’s family had dragged the University of Ibadan, Mrs. Cecilia Amotsuka (trading under the name and style J-Rapha Hospital and Maternity, Ibadan), The Inspector General of Police and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to appear as defendants for the actions or inactions of their agents which culminated in the death of Ebenezer Ayeni contrary to the provisions of the Compulsory Treatment of Gunshot and Accident Victims Acts, 2017.
It is expected that the outcome of this very case which is the first of such since the enactment of the Act would go a long in creating awareness about the seriousness of the Act in checkmating the incidence of careless death of gunshot and accident victims in our hospitals. This is an issue that does not discriminate. Many wealthy and powerful names have fallen to it. It is also not controversial because everyone, including the police, agrees that the practice should not continue.
The future
In the days ahead, CRIVIFON and its strategic partners would engage the police for more awareness creation since police personnel form major part of the violators of the law and who in any case created the problem in the first place by harassing medical personnel over submission of police report. There is the need to continuously educate members of the public to know their rights under the law and their responsibilities as well. Victims who are treated in the hospitals should know that they have responsibility to pay their bills or charges.
There should be sustained awareness for medical staff to continue to report gunshot injuries to the police soon as treatment has commenced. The responsibility of reporting such cases to the police should still reside with the hospital authorities because it is one way of helping to fight crime in the society. In turn there is the need to make the medical personnel to know that if they are maltreated by the police, they have the right under the law to seek redress in the court.
As the National Assembly works on the Amendment Bill it is necessary for the case of indigent patients (Gunshot victims) to be properly addressed since hospital authorities in some cases were reluctant to accept gunshot victims for treatment not entirely because they did not come with police report but the fear that such victims’ families would not foot the treatment bills. Therefore, it is necessary that the amendment would clearly spell out how indigent patients’ bills would be settled just as the Lagos Victims Witness Protection Bill seeks to address.
Mrs Gloria Egbuji, the Executive Director, CRIVIFON is a lawyer and activist
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