Sonnie Ekwowusi, a legal practitioner, has expressed concern over the Nigeria Police Force’s intervention in settling doctor-patient debt disputes, arguing that such actions lack legal backing. He said the Police have no statutory power or constitutional right to adjudicate in civil disputes arising from debt owed to medical doctors by patients.
He said he currently faces the threat of an arrest from an officer with the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Panti, Yaba, Lagos over a suit some medical doctors filed against Panti Police and the Federal High Court in federal for delving into a dispute between a medical doctor and his patient.
“I have told the officer that our clients have approached the court and that by virtue of Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Nigeria Police has no statutory or constitutional right to usurp the function of the court and adjudicate on civil disputes between the citizens,” Ekwowusi said in a statement.
“We must put a stop to blatant illegality that has taken Nigeria’s administration of our criminal justice system hostage,” Ekwowusi called on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun to call his men to order in line with the Law.
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