- The Nigerian Senate has passed the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill
- The new bill seeks to establish a law that ensures that all victims of gunshot get proper treatment of medical workers
- The bill also mandate security agencies to render required assistance to all victims
The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, July 11, passed the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill.
The bill the Senate said was sent for concurrence and seeks to establish a law that ensures that all victims of gunshot get proper treatment of medical workers.
The office of the Senate President Bukola Saraki in a statement said the bill will also mandate security agencies to render required assistance to all victims.
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Saraki while speaking on the new bill said not every victim of a gunshot wound is a criminal.
The Senate President said it is important that a suitable legal framework be put into place to avoid unnecessary loss of lives.
“By the passage of this Bill, the Senate has moved to ensure that every hospital in Nigeria, both public and private, must accept to treat victims of gunshot wounds without any clearance from the police,” Saraki said.
"What we have done is to ensure that everyone is entitled to medical treatment, irrespective of the cause of the shooting. We should reserve judgment for the criminal justice system, and leave healthcare for the medical professionals," he said.
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Among many others the new bill will also ensure that every gunshot victim to taken to the nearest hospital for necessary treatment.
The bill also mandates that no person with gunshot wounds shall be refused immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria whether or not initial monetary deposit is paid.
Other Bills that the Senate passed on Tuesday, July 11, which will be forwarded to the President for assent include: Animal Health and Husbandry Technologies (Registration, etc) Bill, 2017 (HB. 320) and Corporate Manslaughterr Bill, 2017 (HB. 273).
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Others are: National Child Protection and Enforcement Agency Bill, 2017 (HB. 127); National Intelligence Agency Pension Board Bill, 2017 (HB. 842); Nigerian Academy of Science Bill, 2017 (HB. 917); and the National Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science Bill (HB. 405).
"This brings the total number of Bills passed by the Eighth Senate since June 9, 2015, to 108 Bills," the statement said.
NAIJ.com earlier reported that Nigerian Senate had passed the bill to protect whistleblowers in Nigeria.
The bill which was sponsored by late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, the Osun West APC Senator who died in April was passed on June 8.
You can watch this NAIJ.com video of Nigerians reacting the scrapping of the Nigerian Senate: