The family of a slain engineer with Ericsson Nigeria, Adebayo Akinwunmi, who was shot dead by armed robbers, have faulted Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, for allegedly rejecting the victim due to lack of a police report.
Adebayo, 41, was fatally shot on Sunday in Orimerunmu, Ofada-Mokoloki, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.
A four-man gang was said to have scaled the fence into the deceased’s house around 1 am and broken the door.
They reportedly made away with ATM cards, laptops and phones, among other valuables.
Akinwunmi’s wife, Nike, sought assistance of a relative, who conveyed him to a hospital.
After he was rejected in a private medical facility in the community, he was taken to Reddington Hospital, Ikeja, where his company reportedly had retainers.
The hospital allegedly rejected him due to lack of a police report and referred him to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.
He was confirmed dead at LASUTH where doctors were said to be on strike.
The Abeokuta, Ogun State indigene was reportedly buried on the same day in accordance with Islamic rites.
His elder brother, Tunde Akinwunmi, while urging the police to get the suspects arrested, said the victim could have been saved if he got medical attention on time.
He said: “My pain is really about the hospital that rejected him. The wife told me that Reddington was his company’s hospital and she insisted that we took him there that night.
“My pain is that we passed several hospitals to get to Reddington. When we got there, they did not even touch my brother. The wife was shouting and begging, but they said I should go and get a police report.
“I said the requirement had been cancelled by the government. I asked them to first stabilise him, then other things could come afterwards. But they said I should go to LASUTH because the hospital handles such cases. Reddington was our only hope, but they disappointed us.
“We went to LASUTH, but unfortunately, the doctors were on strike. The surgical emergency was locked. The security men said they locked the patients inside because of the strike.
“When I got to medical emergency, they said the case was not for them because it was surgical. I begged them to attend to us. By the time a doctor came to check him, it was too late. He simply pronounced him dead.”
The Lagos State Police Command had on Wednesday described the alleged refusal of Reddington Hospital in Ikeja to treat a gunshot victim as cruel, warning hospitals and doctors to henceforth desist from rejecting gunshot victims.
It said such act constitutes a flagrant violation of an existing law.
The police said it must be noted that doctors who do so are criminally liable on account of the provision of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017.
In a statement by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, the police said it would henceforth arrest and prosecute any medical practitioner who rejects gunshot victims on the ground of police report.
