Police parade dogs that attacked four-year- old boy

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.”
PUNCH Metro had reported on Tuesday,
October 21, that the victim, Omonigho, had
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.