Can Nigerian doctors treat bullet wound without police report?

Reports about how victims of bullet wound die because hospitals refuse to treat them without a police report abound. As recent as April 2023, HumAngle reported on hospitals rejecting gunshot victims. One case that sparked widespread outrage was the story of Ebenezar Ayeni, an Ibadan-based gospel music producer. Ebenezer Ayeni’s wedding was one week away when he died from gunshot injuries sustained during a robbery incident. He was said to have been rushed to a public and private hospital but was rejected as the hospital staff demanded a police report before they could treat his gunshot injury.

Here is What The Law Says:
In 2017, the Senate passed a bill seeking to establish a law that ensures that victims of gunshot wounds receive the necessary treatment. According to the Senate President at that time, Dr Bukola Saraki, the bill will help put a legal framework in place to prevent unnecessary loss of lives, especially as not every gunshot victim is a criminal. (https://www.channelstv.com/2017/07/11/senate-passes-bill-on-compulsory-treatment-of-gunshots-victims/)
And in December 2017, former President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the bill alongside five other bills.
Section 1 of this act states that “Every hospital is to receive and treat victims of gunshot wounds with or without police clearance and/or payment of an initial deposit, but are duty bound to report to the nearest police station within two hours of commencing treatment on the victim.”

And Section 7 states that “Any authority or person, whose omission results in the unnecessary death of a gunshot victim shall be liable to imprisonment for 5 years or a fine in the sum of N500, 000.00 or both.”
However, the law has been domesticated by only Lagos and Rivers states, making nationwide implementation problematic. it is important to note that the Delta state house of assembly has passed a bill on the compulsory treatment and care of gunshot victims, but the governor is yet to assent.

In 2021, the senate considered a bill seeking an amendment to the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act, 2017. The bill, among others, seeks to establish the Medical Emergency Assistance Fund to cover the treatment of victims of gunshot, knife wounds, and other life-threatening emergencies. This bill was sponsored by Senator Oluremi Tinubu (APC, Lagos Central) of the ninth assembly.

CONCLUSION
There are laws in place to make sure that victims of gunshot wounds get treated without a police report but it has only been domesticated in 2 out of Nigeria’s thirty-six states and the FCT.