The crisis in Borno state today took a dramatic turn when officers of the Nigerian Police Force besieged the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. During the visit, a medical officer was shot, several others were beating and equipment in some laboratories were destroyed by the angry officers.
Speaking to newsmen under condition of anonymity, an employee at the tertiary health facility said the policemen went on rampage when they were told the hospital's morgue has been filled beyond its capacity and can no longer accommodate additional corpse that the officer brought to the hospital.
"You know when there is no place to keep corpses, sometimes they are kept
on the floor pending when a space is created for refrigerating, but
when they came this morning, the mobile policemen went on rampage and
started shooting. They beat up a professor and other medical staff and
also shot a medical doctor before some Military men in the hospital came
to bring the situation under control,” the employee said.
The state of insecurity in the hospital has compelled the medical officers to refuse to attend to the corpses that were brought to the hospital by the law enforcement officers.
“The doctors are saying that, they deserve some respect from the uniform
men because some of the security operatives, particularly the police
have this disrespecting attitude towards them. Some of these doctors and
professors they beat up would have been IGPs if they were policemen,
but somebody who is far down the ladder would be treating them as
nobody.” he said.
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