Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution For Victims of SARs Related Abuses and Other Matters has heard how the deteriorating health of a victim of police brutality, Gloria Ezeh, may lead to amputation.
At the resumption of hearing of Gloria Ezeh’s case, a surgeon at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Igbobi, Chungjoe Christopher, told the Panel that Mrs Ezeh stood the risk of leg cancer and amputation after her experience in the hands of the Police.
Mrs Ezeh, a middle-aged woman, had earlier approached the panel and narrated how a police officer ran over her leg with a van because she could not pay a bribe of one hundred thousand naira.
After her testimonies, Mrs. Ezeh’s lawyer, John Nwoku, prayed the panel to summon the orthopaedic surgeon as a witness in the matter.
Mr Christopher, who is a consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, was led in evidence by Mr. Nwoku.
In his testimony, the surgeon told the panel that Mrs. Ezeh sustained a roll-over injury on the foot, which led to missing bone, compromised soft tissue envelope, as such the tendons had to be removed.
He showed the panel pictures from a flash drive and the scan to buttress his point.
The surgeon explained that Mrs. Ezeh, who experienced the police brutality fifteen years ago, still suffered the pain of an infected leg and unequal limb because she had not accessed quality health care.
Although her conditions could be corrected through surgery, the doctor said the petitioner had not been able to meet up with the cost, which is between 4 and 5 million naira.
Godwin Udor
