Behold, Man Handcuffed To Hospital Bed For 1 Year

Samaila Bello

There is a popular axiom in law that an accused person is considered innocent until found guilty.
This axiom however appears to have been jettisoned in the case of a 30-year-old man, Samaila Bello, a suspect in a robbery case.
Bello has been handcuffed to a hospital bed for one year now where he defecates, passes urine and feeds.
The standard practice when people are arrested for crime is for them to be charged to court where their fate is determined but the case of Bello is different. He has been abandoned by the law enforcement officials who brought him to the hospital nearly one year ago.
Bello was brought to the University of
Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH)  Gwagwalada  by officers of the Divisional Police Headquarters in Gwagwalada in March 2012 to be treated for a gunshot wound and was handcuffed to the hospital bed which became his home since then.
Already, the handcuff has eaten deep into his flesh as he has gained more weight because of his immobile state for the past one year.
Recounting his ordeal, Bello who has earned the name Landlord in the casualty ward because of the length of time he has stayed in the hospital, said that his ordeal started when he was asked by a group of men to drive a trailer to a designated place.
“I am from Lagos. I am a trailer driver. My vehicle was involved in an accident and I had to stop at my friend’s place in  Tafa, Niger State so that I can get money to fix it. I was called from Lagos that my wife had put to bed but had died in the process and I told the people who called me to take care of the baby that I will be coming to Lagos as soon as possible.
“It was in Tafa that I met four men who told me they needed a driver to take a vehicle from Gwagwalada to Sabon Wuse and promised to pay N200, 000. I was happy because I needed the money to take care of my baby so I agreed to drive the vehicle to Sabon Wuse. When I asked for my money, they gave me N1000 with a promise to pay the balance the next day. They met me the next day and told me they will pay N10,000 more for I will take the vehicle from Sabon Wuse to Bwari,” he said.
Bello said he was on his way to Bwari when he was intercepted by some soldiers who asked what was in the vehicle.
“I told them that I don’t know and explained that I was hired to take the vehicle to Bwari. I told the person that contracted me to come down and explain to the army what was in the vehicle. The person came down and before I knew what was happening, he dived into the bush. I was about to come down when I was shot by one of the soldiers,” he said.
Bello narrated that he was taken to the divisional police headquarters in Gwagwalada where he was handed over to the police after which the police took him to the hospital and handcuffed him to the bed, which has been his abode ever since.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) , Mohammed  Adamu,  who declined comments on why the suspect has been abandoned at the hospital but confirmed that the patient is an arm robbery suspect and that no relations have visited him after his arrest.
The question now is what happens to Bello?  Will he continue to be chained to the hospital bed for the rest of his life? Has the hospital bed become his own prison? These are questions begging for answers as Samaila Bello  who is still lying in a bed in the hospital wonders when his ordeal will be over.

Culled -  Leadership

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