Medical personnel are now free to treat victims of gunshot without waiting for police report and it is official.
A bill giving effect to the policy was signed into law yesterday by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Entitled Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017,it was among the six so signed by the President.
The rest are Anti-Torture Act 2017;Niger Delta Development Commission (Establishment) Amendment Act, 2017; the Federal Capital Territory Water Board (Establishment) Act 2017; the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (Establishment) Act 2017.
Mr. Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), told State House correspondents in Abuja that the Gunshot Act specifically stipulates that a person with gunshot shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria with or without initial monetary deposit.
He explained that “furthermore, a person with gunshot wound shall not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment or torture by any person or authority, including the police and other security agencies.”
Enang said the NDDC Act also included the gas producing and gas processing companies in the list of agencies that were contributing to the Niger Delta Development Commission, in addition to oil companies to increase funding of the commission for effective discharge of its duties.
He added that “previously, the NDDC Act excluded gas companies. The Act makes it explicit that gas companies have to be included.
“This is to diversify sources of funding for the NDDC for the economic wellbeing of the region.’’
The presidential aide revealed that the president also signed the Anti-Torture Act 2017 into law.