Sniper

Dr Abu Okolo, Head, Department of Pathology, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan says the institution has so far recorded not less than seven cases of suicides arising from the use of snipers.

Okolo made this known on Tuesday in Ibadan at the opening of a five-day workshop entitled “Fundamentals of Forensic Medical Practice”.

The workshop was organised by the department for health professionals in the hospital and from some private hospitals in Ibadan, Oyo State.

The pathologist stated that the hospital had done more than seven autopsies involving people who used snipers, including undergraduate, doctors and other people of different cadres.

According to him, suicide among Nigerians is not a myth.

“We have also had unusual deaths, what so many call magun that we do not know whether it is due to magun or presence of a disease,” he said.

Okolo said such unusual death cases, including patients that died on their hospital beds, called for forensic investigations to unravel their cause.

In his remarks, Dr Uzoma Eze, Head of UCH’s Forensic Medicine Programme, called for increased awareness on medico-legal issues among health practitioners.

Eze said this would help to safeguard the health of patients, institutions and the general public.

He also called for increased awareness on forensic medicine in Nigeria to ensure all medico-legal issues, including rape and sexual violence, were better handled in the hospital.

The workshop will end on Dec. 20.