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.