11th February, 2024
The Police Command in Kano State on Sunday warned members of the public against hostile actions toward medical personnel discharging their primary assignments in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Hussaini Gumel, gave the warning while receiving the state Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Abdullahi Kabir Sulaiman, in his office.
“We will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute any person or group of people attacking medical personnel in the course of discharging their primary assignments.
Gumel thanked the doctors for the visit and assured them of his continued support in protecting lives and property, as well as ensuring law and order in hospitals across the state.
“The NMA is a crucial police partner and a professional association which if there is a problem in that sector, nobody will be at peace,” he said.
He sympathised with the NMA over cases of assault on their members and assured that the command was ever ready to ensure their safety and create a safer working environment for healthcare practitioners in the state.
He, however, reiterated the importance of cooperation between the Police and the medical community in addressing security challenges.
Earlier, Dr Suleiman commended the commissioner for his timely intervention in saving doctors from assault by “irrational relatives of patients on more than two occasions in recent times.
The doctors hailed CP Gumel for applying “democratic policing” in crime fighting.
“This visit was prompted by the recent incidents within a couple of two weeks at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital Kano and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where a medical doctor was assaulted by patients’ relatives.
“We are grateful for your timely intervention at each of the unfortunate incidents. I was part of the team that received you at Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital during your visit.
“It is on the foregoing that the entire members of the NMA Kano chapter, turned up massively to tell you that we all acknowledge the prompt response and support provided by the State Police Command and the holistic manner in which the situation was addressed and now there is peace at the hospital.
“We are here again to seek for diligent prosecution of the assailant that attacked another member at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and to bring the idea that will put a stop to the increasing cases of assault on medical doctors in the State.”