NSCDC Female Officer Dies from Stab Wounds in Bwari, Abuja, After Hospitals Allegedly Refuse Treatment Over Lack of Police Report
A female officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Akpan Blessing, has died after being stabbed by yet-to-be-identified assailants in Bwari, Abuja — with her friends blaming her death on hospital negligence.
The incident occurred in the early hours of last Tuesday in front of her residence in Piawe, Bwari, sparking outrage over the refusal of multiple hospitals to treat the bleeding victim due to the absence of a police report.
According to eyewitnesses and close friends of the deceased, Blessing was first taken to Gabriel Hospital and then to St. Theresa Hospital, both in Bwari town, but was denied immediate treatment.
She was eventually rushed to the Bwari General Hospital, where she was confirmed dead.
Quoting a friend of the deceased, a report stated: “It is painful that we lost Officer Blessing, as she was fondly called, due to a weakened and uncoordinated system. Someone was dying and you insisted there must be a police report before she was attended to.”
“Honestly, this is very sad to say the least. Besides, she’s also a security personnel. We showed them her office identity card, they still didn’t attend to her, hence the reason we were taking her from one place to another until she died,” the friend added in a distressed tone.
Another friend of the deceased said the attack appeared to be an attempted robbery. “She was on way somewhere and some persons wanted to rob her of her belongings. I guess they had to stab her to have their way,” she explained.
The refusal of medical facilities to treat emergency cases without police clearance has long been a controversial issue in Nigeria, with critics describing the policy as inhumane and deadly.
Despite laws such as the Compulsory Treatment and Care for Victims of Gunshot Act, 2017, which mandate immediate treatment of victims of violence regardless of police report, enforcement remains weak and often ignored by healthcare providers.
Efforts to reach the FCT Command Police Spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, were unsuccessful. Calls placed to her line were not answered, and a text message sent was yet to receive a response at the time of filing this report.
