The recurrence of negligence and deaths in hospital emergencies has become an issue of concern to many Nigerians.
Most of the times, when hospitals reject gunshot victims or other patients rushed in critical conditions, they are hinged on lack of police report, unavailability of bed spaces and lack of capacity.
In the ensuing delays, some patients pass on.
Expectedly, Nigeria has enacted a law to prevent such situations.
In 2017, the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Wounds Act was signed into law.
It mandates all hospitals, whether public or private, to provide immediate treatment to victims of gunshots or accidents, with or without a police report.
Section seven of the Act states clearly:
“Any authority or person whose omission results in the unnecessary death of a gunshot victim shall be liable to imprisonment for five years or a fine in the sum of N500,000.00 or both.”
Nonetheless, the ugly trend persists.
Recently, the case of Somtochukwu “Sommie” Maduagwu sent shock waves across Nigeria; her case was not that of gunshot but a critical emergency.
It took her mother 10 long years to have her first daughter, 29-year-old “Sommie”.
Her parents cherished her deeply, sending her to the UK after high school to study law.
Upon graduation, Maduagwu returned home, completed law school in Nigeria; by 2024, she was already working with AriseTV, a young, vibrant professional with a promising future.
But on a night in Sept. 29, in her Katampe apartment complex in Abuja, that promise was cut short.
Alleged armed robbers had stormed the block of flats, moving from one unit to another, dispossessing occupants.
Frightened by the chaos and knowing they would soon reach her door, the eyewitness said she jumped through a window to escape.
She hit the ground hard, sustaining severe injuries.
The police eventually arrived, too late to stop the robbery, and, Maduagwu was rushed to the Maitama General Hospital, where she gave up allegedly out of negligence by the hospital staff.
In a reaction, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Mandate Secretary on Health, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, said Maduagwu was brought in dead to the Maitama General Hospital at about 4:30am that day.
More so, FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Saka Adewale, said that officers responding to distress calls found the 29-year-old journalist unconscious on the ground floor of her residence, a three-storey twin block of 18 flats near the Gishiri axis of Katampe.
“She was immediately taken to Maitama General Hospital, where doctors tried to resuscitate her using CPR, but sadly, she could not make it.”
The police said the armed men invaded the compound at about 3 a.m., shooting one of the private security guards on duty.
“In the panic that followed, Maduagwu, who lived on the top floor, leapt from her balcony in an attempt to flee the attackers.
“The consequences were tragic and very unfortunate,” he said.
Adwale said that a team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Investigation, had been set up to track down the assailants.
Her death shattered her family, devastated her colleagues, and outraged many Nigerians who asked the same haunting question: why do victims like Maduagwu continue to die, not from their wounds, but from neglect, delay, and indifference?
Just two years before Maduagwu’s tragic death, another vibrant young woman, Greatness Olorunfemi, a community developer and member of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Network, also died under similar circumstances.
On Sept. 26, 2023, Olorunfemi was reportedly pushed out of a fast-moving “one chance” vehicle by robbers along the Maitama-Kubwa highway in Abuja.
Severely injured, Good Samaritans rushed her to the same Maitama General Hospital, where witnesses alleged she was denied urgent care because no police report was provided.
Olorunfemi died shortly after.
The hospital denied wrongdoing, claiming she was brought in dead; but Nigerians took to the streets of social media in outrage, pointing out that her life, like Maduagwu’s, could have been saved with timely treatment.
Yet, in practice, victims are still turned away; doctors cite fear of police harassment, legal ambiguities, and sometimes financial constraints.
Many hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory insist on police reports before commencing treatment, a dangerous delay in situations where every second counts.
A 2022 study published on ResearchGate found that delayed or denied treatment of gunshot victims in Nigeria was largely due to concerns about police interference.
Doctors worry about being implicated in criminal cases, leaving them torn between their duty to save lives and the fear of legal entanglement.
Beyond hospitals, even ordinary Nigerians hesitate to help accident or gunshot victims.
Dr Gabriel Adakole, a Public Health expert, said that fear of legal consequences, financial commitment, and sometimes, unexpected trouble with law enforcement agencies made individuals hesitant to assist victims in dire need of help.
Adakole said that as a result, victims of kidnappers, bandits, ritualists, and armed robbers often survive the violence itself but die from the absence of timely medical intervention.
To address the recurring crisis, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, recently ordered all medical practitioners and facilities across Nigeria to provide prompt treatment to all gunshot and accident victims, regardless of whether a police report is presented.
“The directive is aimed at prioritising immediate care and stabilisation of such patients, recognising the critical importance of timely medical attention in saving lives.”
In addition, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, issued a directive mandating all public and private healthcare facilities to treat gunshot victims without delay.
“It has come to the knowledge of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare that most facilities are still slow or non-compliant in treating gunshot victims, resulting in unnecessary deaths.
“Gunshot victims come under emergencies that require urgent medical attention to save lives,” he said.
Pate said that strategies were being put in place to ensure full compliance with the 2017 Act.
Experts argue that Nigeria does not suffer from a lack of legislation but from weak enforcement.
Dr Abiodun Feyikemi Ipadeola, Technical Director and CEO of Datametrics Associates Limited, said that the problem was not enacting acts but implementing them.
“We are good at drafting laws, but the real issue is whether those laws are carried out,” Ipadeola said.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has also stepped up, reminding hospitals that patients’ rights are fundamental and must be protected.
Yet, enforcement remains inconsistent; leaving families like Maduagwu’s and Olorunfemi’s devastated.
Emergency healthcare is not just a medical obligation; it is a moral, legal, and constitutional duty.
The Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to life, yet countless citizens die preventable deaths at hospital gates.
Until laws are enforced and hospitals stop hiding behind outdated fears, young lives like Maduagwu, Olorunfemi and many other Nigerians will continue to be wasted.
For Maduagwu’s grieving mother, who waited 10 years to hold her first child, no legal reform or government directive will bring her back.
Stakeholders say Maduagwu’s story, and those of many others, can be the painful wake-up call Nigeria needs to finally end the cycle of negligence and excuses in hospital emergencies.
