Anambra doctors down tools over kidnap of colleague

Posted by admin Anambra, Headlines, State News Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Patients in all the hospitals in Nnewi, the industrial city of Anambra State, yesterday, suffered untold hardship as medical doctors in both public and private hospitals in the area downed tools and took to the streets to protest the kidnap of their colleague, Dr. Okwudili Udemezue.

The doctors numbering over 300 with some medical students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University supporting them staged a peaceful protest in Nnewi, Awka, visiting also the Government House, the Police Headquarters and Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Awka. Dr. Udemezue, a lecturer in the Department of Anatomy at the College of Medicine, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi, was abducted on Sunday night as he was driving home from work by unknown gunmen believed to be kidnappers. As at yesterday afternoon when his colleagues visited Awka his abductors were yet to establish contact with either the family or anybody.

The placards carried by the doctors had inscriptions such as, “Why kidnap life savers,” “Why so much insecurity,” “Anambra is under threat of kidnappers,” “Leave doctors alone,” “Doctors need freedom to do their work,” and ‘Kidnapping is a bad omen.”

Speaking at both the Government House and the police headquarters, the Chairman of the Nnewi branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Achukwu Nwabueze lamented that doctors had become targets of kidnappers, noting that they had similar experience last year as one of their members was also kidnapped and later released after some days. Nwabueze insisted that, “our business is to save lives and we do not see any reason why we should be threatened.”

Addressing them, the Deputy Governor, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu expressed dismay at the gradual return of kidnapping, which he said had reduced considerably in the state. Noting that the menace had been on the increase since the end of the general elections, Sibeudu, however, assured that the state government was doing all it could to deal with the issue, just as it had put in place measures to combat it. Earlier at the police headquarters, the Deputy Police Commissioner, DCP, Austin Evbakhavbokun commended the doctors for their mature conduct and assured them that the command had been on the matter and would rescue their colleague soon.

-Sunwp_posts