Reprieve has come the way of gunshot victims as a bill seeking compulsory treatment of armed victims without police clearance has passed second reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill titled ‘A bill for an Act to amend the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act 2017’ seeks to empower public and private hospitals to treat armed attacks victims aside gunshots injuries without police clearance.
Sponsor of the bill, Hon Wale Raji said the enactment became vital in order to save lives, adding that the scope of its application has been expanded to include other forms of weapons other than firearms that could be used to inflict injuries on a victim.
Leading the debate on the floor of the House at the plenary on Thursday, Raji said originally, the bill was the crux of the compulsory treatment and care for victims of gunshots Act, 2017.
According to Raji, because of the restricted coverage of the Act, many innocent victims of other dangerous weapons other than firearms have consistently being rejected by the hospitals for want of a police clearance, which resulted in their untimely death..
Raji explained that the amendment of the law to accommodate other innocent victims who sustained injuries other than gunshot injuries, the National Assembly have put an end to the conundrum of hospitals refusing to treat dying patients who have sustained injuries other than gunshots injuries and without a police clearance.
“The intent of the extant law as it is today is to the effect that an innocent victim who sustained a grievous bodily injury from a weapon other than gun/firearm will be deprived medical attention if he/she is without a police clearance. This outrageous act of the hospitals leading to the death of innocent victims indirectly constitutes a deprivation of their right to be alive.
“The fulcrum of this amendment is to preserve the lives of innocent victims who have suffered injuries from attacks other than gun/firearms injuries and in urgent need of medical attention. The law as it is today is not in favour of victims of attacks not related with firearms and hence there is urgent need for this hallow chamber to widen the scope of the extent law’s application.
“This amendment will be a great relief to innocent victims of non-firearms attack without a police clearance and also creates a statutory protection from prosecution for hospitals engaging in the protection of such lives. Also, there is a proposed attempt to amend the title of this bill in order to reflect the true intent of the law.”