The Rivers State Government has identified and apprehended the suspect responsible for detonating an explosive device near the state-owned Presidential Hotel during a pro-police protest in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
This announcement came less than 24 hours after Dr. Adaeze Oreh, the State Commissioner for Health, issued an alert to public and private medical facilities in the state regarding the suspect’s identity and injury profile.
The explosion, believed to be caused by dynamite, created panic near the Presidential Hotel axis of the Aba expressway. Dr. Oreh, addressing the media on Tuesday evening, urged medical facilities to be on high alert for an individual with a traumatically dismembered upper limb, a key sign of the injury from the blast, and to notify the police and the Ministry of Health if such an individual was found.
“Now the Rivers State Ministry of Health is calling for an alert to all medical facilities in the state, both public and privately owned facilities, to be vigilant and look out for an individual, a young man with a traumatically dismembered upper limb because this injury, which was sustained, will require medical attention. If such an individual and their accomplices are present in any of the facilities, immediately notify the Commissioner for Police, Rivers State and the Rivers State Ministry of Health,” Dr. Oreh stated.
Later that night, Dr. Oreh informed the press that the suspect, whose identity remains undisclosed, was brought to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital for treatment by friends who have since fled. Those who brought him claimed he was injured in a road accident.
“Following that call, our medical facilities in the state were on a heightened sense of alert. When a young man was brought to the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital with alleged injuries sustained in a road traffic accident, the medical personnel quickly recognized that the injuries did not match those from a road traffic accident but resembled blast injuries,” explained Dr. Oreh.
The suspect, who was semi-conscious upon arrival, was immediately taken to the theatre for resuscitation. Medical personnel provided emergency care and promptly informed the Rivers State Government and the Commissioner for Police about the suspect’s presence in the facility.
“The individual was taken to the theatre for immediate resuscitation because, as of the time he was brought in, he was semi-conscious. The medical personnel did the needful and immediately informed the Rivers State Government.
They also informed the Commissioner for Police and the Rivers State Ministry of Health about the presence of that individual in the facility while providing emergency medical care to revive and resuscitate him,” Dr. Oreh continued.
Dr. Oreh assured the public that the suspect is now stable after receiving medical attention. The hospital premises have been fully secured by the police, who are now conducting necessary investigations.
“The patient is undergoing medical treatment. He is stable, and the police are doing their part in carrying out the necessary investigations. We seek to inform the public that this is the update following the earlier incident of today in Port Harcourt,” Dr. Oreh concluded.
