The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) is devastated and outraged by the tragic and avoidable death of Somtochukwu Maduagwu, a brilliant young lawyer and rising journalist with Arise News.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Executive Director of CHRICED, Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, said the death of Somtochukwu is not just a personal loss to her family, friends, and colleagues, but a national shame and indictment of our collective failure as a society.
According to accounts, Somtochukwu’s ordeal began when armed hoodlums invaded her apartment in Abuja.
In an attempt to escape the terror, she leapt from her building, sustaining severe injuries. Instead of succumbing to bullets or machetes, she became a victim of a system that values bureaucracy over humanity.
According to accounts from her colleagues at Arise News and corroborated by other media reports, Somtochukwu was rushed to a hospital in Maitama, Abuja.
Shockingly, in her most vulnerable moment, she was denied the emergency medical care guaranteed under Nigerian law.
The hospital reportedly demanded a police report before administering treatment. That fatal delay cost her life. This is not only inhumane, it is unlawful.
Section 20 of Nigeria’s National Health Act (2014) is explicit: “A health care provider, health worker or health establishment shall not refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason.”
The same section further criminalizes the denial of emergency care, prescribing fines and imprisonment for institutions or professionals who default.
Somtochukwu was entitled to urgent care. The law guaranteed it. But the practice betrayed her.
Nigeria killed Somtochukwu, not the robbers, not the fall, but the lethal combination of insecurity, slow police response, and medical negligence rooted in a culture of impunity.
When hospitals hide behind bureaucracy instead of saving lives, and when security agencies repeatedly fail to protect citizens, we are left with a country that kills its brightest not by commission alone, but by omission.
CHRICED therefore demands a full, transparent investigation into the robbery attack, the hospital’s refusal of emergency treatment, and the role of the police in the delayed response.
Those found culpable, whether hoodlums, medical personnel, or negligent officers, must face the full weight of the law.
It calls on the Federal Government and the Nigeria Police Force to prioritize citizens’ security and restore public confidence through concrete reforms and effective policing.
CHRICED alos urges the Federal Ministry of Health and relevant regulatory bodies to enforce the provisions of the National Health Act, ensuring that no Nigerian is ever again denied emergency medical treatment under the guise of “procedure.”
Somtochukwu’s death must not be in vain. It must become a turning point for justice, accountability, and systemic change.
Nigeria cannot continue to bury its youth because of failures that are preventable, laws that are ignored, and institutions that have lost their moral compass.
CHRICED expresses its deepest condolences to Somtochukwu’s family, her colleagues at Arise TV, and all who mourn this irreplaceable loss.
May her memory ignite a flame that pushes Nigeria to reclaim its conscience and humanity.
