Nigeria: MSF Treats Victims Wounded in Fighting at Port Harcourt Waterfront

On Monday, October 12, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams received patients reportedly injured in a demonstration against the demolition of the Bundu-Ama waterfront area in Port Harcourt.

MSF medical teams have so far treated nine casualties from Bundu-Ama in Teme Hospital, located in the heart of the city. All of the injuries were the result of gunshot wounds. People suffered abdominal and chest wounds, as well as bone fractures. Two patients required immediate surgical care.

“As a medical facility, our main priority is to treat patients," said Barbara Frederick, field coordinator for MSF in Port Harcourt. "We are ready to provide further medical assistance if needed.”

MSF, an independent, impartial and neutral medical humanitarian organization, has worked in Nigeria continuously since 1996. The organization is currently providing medical care in four states of the country. MSF started supporting the 70-bed Teme trauma center in Port Harcourt in October 2005. In 2008, MSF teams treated more than 9,300 patients in Teme hospital emergency room and performed more than 3,000 surgeries.