Kogi Assembly has proposed legislation requiring the treatment of accident and gunshot victims

A bill for a law mandating treatment and care for accident, gunshot, and other injury victims has been presented by the Kogi State House of Assembly.

Ochidi Shehu Usman, a member of the Kogi State House of Assembly who represents the Dekina/Biraidu Constituency, started the debate on the bill by stating that he was concerned about the state’s medical professionals’ casual treatment of accident and gunshot victims.

Usman illustrated how the bill, if passed into law, will reduce the number of casualties from accidents and gunshots by citing the news of an Abuja-based victim who was pushed down from a moving vehicle by suspected criminals but allegedly was not attended to by the health facility until she bled to death.

“The bill will require everyone, including security personnel, to attend to accident victims and gunshot victims without requesting payment or a police report to start treatment and give the victims adequate attention before their relatives arrive,” he said.

“It has been noted with the utmost concern that recently, accident or gunshot victims are not given the urgent medical attention they require by the Healthcare institutions, resulting in the loss of lives due to the delay in accepting the victims or, in some cases, total refusal.”

“I felt that this legal instrument needed to be put in place to enforce the mandatory treatment and care of accident and gunshot injury victims by our healthcare providers, pending police reports and the arrival of the victim’s relatives in order to save lives.”

Usman said that anyone or any authority, including the police or other security agencies, must not subject a victim of an accident or a gunshot wound to cruel treatment or torture.

Healthcare personnel who take any individual with gunshot wounds shall notify that fact to the nearest Police Station within two hours of beginning treatment, he added, to prevent criminals from concealing under the development to commit evil deeds.

The member for the Ibaji Constituency, Comfort Ojoma, expressed support for the proposal while explaining that she had been forced to act as a surety for accident and gunshot victims before they could receive medical care.

She insisted that medical practitioners should attend to medical emergencies first before requesting information like police reports or money for treatment due to the current state of the nation.