The Nigerian Medical Association said it would adhere to the directive of the acting Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, to treat gunshot victims without asking for police report.
The NMA said prior to the directive, medical doctors in the country had always attended to emergency cases without demanding a police report.
Egbetokun had issued the directive while urging health workers to sensitise Nigerians about the issue.
The IGP’s directive, based on the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017, was contained in a Police internal memo dated October 25, 2023, and signed by the Force Principal Staff Officer, Olatunji Disu.
The memo was addressed to all Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, Commissioners of Police and the Commandants of Police Colleges in Ikeja, Kaduna, Oji-River, Maiduguri and Enugu.
Speaking with our correspondent on Friday, the President of the NMA, Dr Uche Ojinmah said, “Prior to now, it has been that if it is an emergency, you treat the emergency if there is no report and then you report the case to the Police.
“I pray the IG can hold his policemen because it is always from them. You will come to say you admitted someone bleeding with a gunshot injury and the person is stabilised, but they will arrest you.
“The problem is not with the medical doctors, it is with the Police, as long as the Police will obey what the IG has said, I assure you that it will be a thing of the past.”
