President Muhammadu Buhari has assented to a bill empowering hospitals and medical personnel in the country to treat gunshot victims without waiting to get police report first.
The bill, which is titled Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017, was among six assented to by the president on Friday, December 29.
The other bills 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.
The Nation quoted the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, as saying that under the new Gunshot Act, any individual with gunshot shall be received for immediate and adequate treatment by any hospital in Nigeria with or without initial monetary deposit.
He was further quoted as saying that gunshot victims shall no longer be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment by any authority, especially the police.