Greatness Olorunfemi, a one-chance victim and member of the Yali network in Abuja, has tragically passed away after the Maitama General Hospital allegedly denied her treatment for not providing a police report.
The victim was severely injured after being thrown out of a vehicle along the Maitama-Kubwa Express by “one chance” robbers on Tuesday. When taken into the facility for immediate care, she was allegedly denied treatment because a police report was not provided.
A witness identified as West Robinson, narrated in a video, with the victim lying on the floor, that he and some bystanders had rushed her to the hospital, where she died after being denied treatment.
“Unfortunately, the nurses that were on duty in Maitama General Hospital when this woman was brought in, and the medical doctors there refused that this girl should be taken inside.
“Unfortunately, within 20 minutes, the young girl died while we were still there because now the man that helped her said we should not drop the corpse on the floor, so we started calling the emergency services, and they told us that they were going to send some policemen down,” he narrated.
He said police officers arrived at the hospital in a Hilux van with another victim stabbed in the head after boarding a cab to Kubwa.
“This same hospital, Maitama General Hospital, refused to take this man. In fact, what happened yesterday, the 26th of September, was like chaos, so the policemen were all angry and said they should take the man to the national hospital, so they left, so while we were still there, they brought another victim again that has been stabbed and attacked by these one chance people,” Mr Robinson added.
When contacted, The Gazette’s reporters were asked to seek approval from the management board through a letter before information on the incident could be shared.
Meanwhile, DSP Josephine Adeh, the police spokesperson for FCT, said an investigation was ongoing into the rejection of the victims by the health facility.
Although police reports were prerequisites for treating victims in the past, this was annulled years ago. The hospital’s action violates the National Health Act, which criminalises the demand for police reports before administering treatments to gunshots or accident victims.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the law in December 2014. It was reviewed into the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Act by his successor, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2017.
According to the law, medical facilities found contravening the law risk a N100,000 fine, six months’ imprisonment or both.
Section 20 (1) of the act states, “A health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason whatsoever”, while subsection 2 states, “Any person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or to both.’’