Gunshot Victim, Police Report: Ebenezer Ayeni dies

Friends of a music producer who has died in Ibadan, Oyo State after two hospitals allegedly refused to treat his gunshot injuries have taken to social media to lament the circumstances of his death.

Ebenezer Ayeni, set to get married next week, was reportedly shot by armed robbers who attacked his Ibadan residence early on Friday, June 11, 2021.

He was then rushed to the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, where the management demanded a police report to account for the gunshot wounds, a longstanding practice that is now illegal.

According to the account of his friends, the vocal instructor was also rushed to J-Rapha Hospital, but the private hospital similarly demanded a police report before offering emergency treatment.

Ayeni died around four hours after he was shot after pleading with the medical centres to treat him, according to an account of events by his friend, identified as Mc ShayorComedian on Facebook.

"We were planning for your wedding next week and not your burial," he wrote on the social media platform.

The refusal to treat gunshot victims without first obtaining a police report has been one of the most worrisome public health issues in Nigeria.

It was outlawed when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Gunshot Victims Act into law in 2017.

The law empowers medical personnel to treat gunshot victims without waiting for a police report, but it has not penetrated enough and medical centres still regularly reject emergency treatment for patients like Ayeni.

A candlelight service will be held in his honour on Friday evening.