Actor and comedian, Williams Uchemba, was seen in a viral video in what looks like a hospital trying to assist people who sustained gunshot injuries from the Lekki Toll Gate shooting by the Nigerian Army at #EndSARS protesters.
In the video, the child actor was told by someone in the background that some people needed to be moved to another hospital for better treatment and surgery and Uchemba volunteered to pay for the logistics.
In a chat with The Eagle Online, the actor said he went to the hospital when he was told that some people needed assistance and help.
Uchemba said: “I can’t tell exactly the number of casualties.
“I only went there when I was told that there were some people who needed assistance and help.
“It is a hospital that is around Ajah.
“I wouldn’t want to mention their name for their security, but some of the casualties that we went to attend to were the people that sustained injuries from the Lekki Toll Gate.
“The person I came with (Innocent) drove about three people to the hospital.
“However, when we got there, we realised that there were more casualties.
“I can’t say if they were from here or there, but I know there were lots of casualties on ground and majority was bullet wounds.
“But from what I realised is that some of them were the people that had the clash with policemen around Ajah.
“They burnt down the Ajah Police Station and there were several rounds of gunshots.
“Because we can’t say which ones are hoodlum or thugs, we’re very careful to tag anybody.
“But I know some of them sustained gunshot injuries from the shootout that happened around Ajah.
“The major people we went to attend to were two men and a woman who sustained injuries and were driven from the toll gate down to the hospital.”
Speaking on the major needs of the casualties, the actor said: “The major problem they had was logistics.
“Some of them needed major surgeries that the hospital couldn’t carry out, so there was need to move them from that hospital to another hospital, where they could handle the surgeries.
“Some of them also needed funds for basic things.
“While for some, the hospital told me that they had already paid their bills, which is a good thing.
“If not for security reasons, it is something I will like to commend.
“I noticed some of the hospitals shut their doors and were not taking people, but this particular hospital opened it up for anybody.
“I gave some money for provisions, which was done on Thursday.”
On when he went to the hospital, Uchemba said: “I was in the hospital on Wednesday evening when we went to attend to the people that sustained injuries on Tuesday evening at the Lekki Toll Gate.”
When asked if he was aware how many people lost their lives as a result of the shooting at the toll gate, the actor said: “Nobody is certain about the number of casualties and I haven’t seen anybody come to me and say I lost this person.
“It has just being injuries.”
On his take on whether there were people who lost their lives as a result of the shooting, he said: “Honestly, I am a man that likes to do with facts and I can’t for sure say that people lost their lives because I wasn’t there and everything is just hearsay.
“However, there are rumours that the military went away with some bodies.
“Nobody knows for sure what happened there that night.
“I think I will leave that to the appropriate bodies to do their investigation and to know actually how many people, if any, lost their lives that day.”
