The Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday paraded the two dogs that
attacked four-year-old Omonigho Abraham in the Igando area of the state.
The police, while parading the two German shepherd dogs at its
headquarters in Ikeja, added that the dogs had been examined and had been found
to be disease-free.
The Commissioner of Police, Cornelius Aderanti, said it was important to
parade the dogs so that the public would be convinced that the dogs were still
in police custody, and had not been released as was being rumoured.
He, however, said only a court of law could decide whether the two
dogs-which devoured the scalp of the little boy-would be killed or not.
He said, “We have brought the dogs out so that the public would know
that they are still in police custody. They have been examined and they show no
negative trait. It is only the court that will decide what happens to them. The
police cannot decide to kill the dogs.”
The victim, Omonigho, had earlier on asked the police and the government
to ensure that the dogs which almost took his life be killed.
It was reported that Omonigho, who was now in the Burns and Plastic
Wards of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja still had a
bandaged head and some scars on his face.
On Tuesday at the police command, a veterinary police officer, Yahaya
Usman, also told journalists that the medical report showed the dogs had no
infection.
He said, “Initially, we quarantined the dogs and wanted to find out
whether the dogs had any disease or not. That was the first step taken by the
police. The dogs were under our watch for weeks.
“So far, they have not shown any negative trait. The medical history shows
that they don’t have rabies or the Ebola Virus Disease. The dogs are with us,
and only the court will determine what happens to them.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s father, Mr. Odiah Abraham, said apart from the
attack on his son, the dogs had also terrorised other residents.
He said three days prior to his son’s attack, the dogs had chased a
neighbour and residents had thereafter warned the dog owner.
He said, “Three days to the incident, a woman who lives in the
neighbourhood had gone downstairs to spread her clothes on the line. She had
left and was approaching her room when the dogs broke out of their cage and
pursued her. She was just lucky that she was close to her room, if not they
would have bitten her.
“She ran in and shut the door against herself. The dogs stood at the
gate for some time and when they saw she did not open, they ran back to their
cage. My wife met the dog’s owner and told him to do something about the dogs,
as there were little children within the neighbourhood, but he just ignored the
warning.”
However, the owner of the dogs, Mr. Stanley Wesley, has been arraigned
in court for negligence but has been granted bail.
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