03/02/2024
YEAC-Nigeria petition lands hospital that failed to treat late Dr. Barine Lenee in trouble
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre's (YEAC-Nigeria) petition against the hospitals that failed to treat the late Dr. Barine Lenee, leading to his bleeding to death on Saturday, September 30, 2023, has landed the hospital in trouble as the House Committee on Public Petitions has summoned the hospitals to a public hearing on the matter on February 7, 2024, at the National Assembly.
The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre's (YEAC-Nigeria) petition was raised on the floor of the House of Representatives by Dum Dekor, a member representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency, late last year.
The hospital in Portharcourt refused to treat Dr. Barine Lenee, who was stabbed along the popular straughter roundabout in Trans Amadi Portharcourt, for not possessing a police report that caused him to bleed to death.
We also gathered that the petitioner, Advocate Centre, has also been invited to the hearing held on February 7, 2024, at the National Assembly.
Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, Executive Director, YEAC-Nigeria, said while reacting to the development that "While we can't bring our late brother and colleague, who was buried on December 23, back to life, it is just our prayers that this whole process gives him justice in death and support to ameliorating the sufferings of his widow and two little children that he left behind. We continue to count on you and appreciate you all for your support of YEAC-Nigeria in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities, among others,he stated.
You may recall that in 2017, the Senate passed a bill seeking to establish a law that ensures that victims of gunshot wounds receive the necessary treatment. The Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshots Bill, when signed into law, will prevent medical workers from denying care to gunshot victims.
Also, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has in recent times warned hospitals and doctors to desist from rejecting gunshot victims, saying such an act constitutes a flagrant violation of existing law. According to the NPF, doctors who reject these victims are criminally liable on account of the provisions of the Compulsory Treatment and Care of Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017.