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23.10.2021 Featured ‘Police Arrested Me for Providing First Aid’ — Nigerians Give Reasons Accident Victims May Never Get Help

Published 23rd Oct, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

Nigerians have faulted the police for making it difficult for well-meaning road users to help accident victims.

This happened on Saturday, after Malachy Odo, a Twitter user, shared the story of a 70-year-old man who died one hour after he was hit by a power bike in the Yaba area of Lagos.

“A 70-year-old man was knocked down by a hit-and-run power bike driver in Yaba and was left writhing in pain for over one hour before he died by the roadside,” he had said.

The man, according to Odo, was abandoned because “Nigerians don’t want police wahala (trouble)”.

READ ALSO: After Arresting Student for Owning Laptop, Lagos Police Extort N50,000

Several commenters under the tweet narrated their experiences of the poor treatment meted to good Samaritans by the police. A Twitter user identified as Ugochukwubunna said a man who helped his dying uncle was detained and asked to pay N10,000 to bail himself.

“My uncle was robbed and stabbed in Abuja. He was there for two days rotting alive until someone finally decided to help take him to the hospital. Hospitals kept on rejecting him. The good Samaritan kept on spending his time, energy and resources on my uncle until, finally, one hospital accepted my uncle and contacted the police,” Ugochukwubunna said.

READ ALSO: How Doctor Led Alimosho General Hospital Staff to Swindle Road Accident Victim

“The good Samaritan had to pay N10,000 to release himself. We didn’t know any of these as we were searching for my uncle until he regained consciousness and provided his wife’s number. His ID cards and phones were stolen.”

Olanrewaju, another Twitter user, said he was forced to part with N15,000 as bail after he and a man he provided first aid to in December 2018 were accused of robbery.

“A young man was stabbed around CMS area in Lagos on 24th December 2018,” he tweeted. “I just came down from the bus and I saw this young man bleeding.

“I provided first aid and took him to a safe place. Police came and arrested me and the bleeding man, saying we were robbers.

“I spent 3hrs in the police station explaining myself until I showed them my Facebook post inside the bus when I was complaining of traffic and my tweet where I warned people not to follow Adeola Odeku Way when going to CMS. With that, I paid N15,000 to bail both of us.”

READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Lagos Police in Show of Force Ahead of #EndSARS Memorial

Derek recalled a twitter user who was almost successfully framed up by the police for knocking down a road user.

He said, “Remember on Twitter a guy helped someone who was knocked down by a fast car. He took him to the hospital, although he died and the family of the guy and the police tried to frame him for trying to help. Thank God he posted everything on Twitter.”

Lamenting the problems that come with providing help to accident victims, another user said he was in a position to help on Friday, but despite being a certified first-aider, he left the scene for fear of repercussions.

He tweeted, “The system caused people to fail one another. I saw a similar case yesterday in my area but was scared to render first aid treatment although I’m a certified first-aider. I left with tears in my heart. My prayer every day is that my goodness doesn’t cause problems for me.”

On October 8, Innocent Ujah, President of the Nigerian Medical Association, said the problem existed for doctors too. While charging doctors to attend to emergency patients without police reports or fees, he lamented the treatment police officers mete to doctors.

As captured in a report, he said, “The reality on the ground is that when you do that you may be an accomplice. They may accuse you of hobnobbing or hiding, in cases of armed robbery and the rest.

“That creates fear and uncertainty and insecurity for the doctors and that’s why some doctors ask for police reports, but by and large, there’s no law that says a doctor must seek a police report before he treats an emergency.

“I think it is the overzealousness of the police that when you treat such cases, they might say you’re complicit. So, obviously, the doctor is not safe and needs to be protected.

“Doctors have been harassed, some of of them locked up; they have been killed in the process of saving lives because of the police.”

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Published 23rd Oct, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

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