Saraki reacts to David's death, the gunshot wounds victim

Former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has asked for the full weight of the law to be brought to bear on everyone found to have been culpable in the death of 22-year-old techie, David Ntekim-Rex.

David reportedly died from gunshot wounds on Friday, January 15, 2021 in mainland Lagos; as police officers and medical personnel looked on, allegedly profiling him because he owned a laptop rather than act with some dispatch to save his life.

Nigeria's police officers abhor doctors and nurses from attending to persons ferried to hospitals with bullet wounds before a police clearance is issued, based off the erroneous assumption that every gunshot victim may have been a fleeing armed robber who escaped from the fusillade of police bullets.

David was reportedly shot by robbers in Jibowu, Yaba on Friday, January 16, 2021 (Omonike Tijani) David was reportedly shot by robbers in Jibowu, Yaba on Friday, January 16, 2021 (Omonike Tijani) Pulse Nigeria

The 8th senate under Saraki passed the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshots Act which was subsequently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017.

The former lawmaker now hopes that that piece of legislation comes to the fore in resolving David's death.

"Learning that David Ntekim-Rex died despite existing laws that we passed during the 8th Senate to mitigate against such occurrences is truly heartbreaking. My heartfelt prayers are with his loved ones at this truly difficult time.

"I hope that all those that are found to have been negligent in this case are quickly apprehended and tried under the ‘Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act (2017)’ to ensure that no family ever has to suffer such a loss again," he said.

Nigeria has run a notoriously corrupt and undisciplined police force since independence in 1960.

In October of 2020, young Nigerians took to the streets of major cities across the country to protest decades of police brutality, extra-judicial killings, profiling and extortion at the hands of trigger-happy and poorly trained cops.