SHOT BANKER'S LEG AMPUTATED, NEEDS N2M FOR ARTIFICIAL LIMB

A banker who was allegedly shot by policemen on both legs on March 23, 2010, has lost one of his legs to the gunshot. Not only that, he has been abandoned midway into treatment by the police, who took him to the hospital.

Mr. Pius Effiong was on his way home from work when he was shot by the police in Abuja, and has been bedridden ever since. He told Daily Sun that his attackers said they thought he was a kidnapper when they fired at him at Abuja 's Central Business District:

 'On the fateful day, I had closed from work and was on my way home when some persons who were later on identified as policemen in civil dress were carrying out an operation around the Central Business District of Abuja. They arrested me, saying they were suspecting me to be a kidnapper.'

Effiong said he was beaten and manhandled by the policemen, who insisted that he surrendered all the money on him, before bundling him into an unmarked black Toyota vehicle driven by one of them.

'I showed the policemen my identity card and explained to them that I was a staff of Think Microfinance Bank Limited and was on my way from work but all to no avail.'

The banker has since gone to court to seek redress. His lawyer averred that his client was putting on the promotional T-shirt of the bank with its name and logo inscribed on it, while his identity card hung on his neck:

'As the policemen were driving out with the plaintiff, another group of plain-clothed policemen blocked the vehicle and shot its occupants, thereby injuring the policemen inside the first car as well as Effiong, whose legs and shoulders were shattered.'

The lawyer added that when the second group of policemen realised the error, they took the injured together with the policemen to Asokoro District Hospital and later to the National Hospital, where the banker's leg was amputated from the knee due to the damage inflicted by the shooting.

He informed the court that as a result of the long period of absence from work due to the bullet wounds and subsequent hospitalization, it has not been easy for the victim to pick his hospital bills. He said the police refused to further contribute to his treatment despite several letters written to the force by the plaintiff's relations, solicitors and his employers:

'The permanent disability and disfigurement suffered by the plaintiff, who his 33 years old, has caused him the loss of amenities of life, while he still suffers from excruciating recurring pains from the injuries.'