PHOTO: Man [Adewale Ahmed] shot by police alleges abandonment

A gunshot victim, Mr. Adewale Ahmed, who underwent some surgical procedures at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, has accused the police of abandoning him to his fate...


The victim, 23, who is also the Executive Director, Child Growth Concern Initiative, said he was a National Diploma student of the Department of Accounting, Kwara State Polytechnic, when the incident happened.

He told PUNCH Metro that he was shot on May 27, 2013, by one of the policemen escorting a bullion van belonging to a bank in Ilorin, Kwara State, adding that he was later rushed to the UITH.

Ahmed, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, alleged that when the incident happened, the then Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Agboola Oshodi-Glover presented a cheque of N100,000 to him at the hospital, while the then Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Jonathan Johnson, visited him on the directive of the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar.

He stated that since then, the police had left him to his fate, adding that after many surgical operations, he needed a huge amount to settle his bill with the hospital.

Ahmed said after the medical procedures, he had been using a crutch to walk, adding that he still experienced excruciating pains and was unable to perform tasks which he could in the past.

He, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari; the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase; and the current Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Esosa Amadasun, to come to his aide by paying up his hospital bills and establishing a means of livelihood for him.

He said, “I cannot walk well now. I cannot even do tasking jobs. I still experience serious pains even after I had undergone medical procedures after being shot by one of the policemen escorting a bullion van. I have been abandoned by the police. Though there was initial payment of N100,000, the bills at the hospital have piled up.”

A medical report by a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, UITH, Dr. G.H. Ibraheem, stated that Ahmed, with hospital no. 005807, was admitted to UITH on May 27, 2013, following a gunshot injury to the left leg.

“He had a series of surgical procedures between May 27, and July 2013, which included serial debridement, external fixation and skin grafting. He was discharged initially on September 2013 and re-admitted in April 2014 for a final surgical procedure.

“He had bone lengthening with a Linear Rail System from April 30, 2014 and was

discharged finally on May 30, 2014. He is currently ambulant with the aid of a cane and is on follow up in the surgical outpatient clinic,” Ibraheem said.

But the Kwara State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi Okasanmi, said the police should not be accused of abandoning the victim. He stated that the police not only visited the victim in the hospital but also made money available for the payment of his medical bill when he was admitted.

Okasanmi said, “The matter happened before I became the PPRO and before the current CP came here. When we enquired what happened, we were told that the case had been settled and the parents of the victim even came to the police headquarters to thank the then CP. The case has been closed as far as we are concerned.”