Members of the Cross River Branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), have threatened indefinite withdrawal of their services to members of the public from January 8.
This followed the kidnap and non release of one of its members, Dr. Usang Ekanem, who was abducted on December 26, 2017 by gunmen.
Dr. Effiong Mkpanam, the state Chairman of NMA, told newsmen after an emergency meeting on Friday in Calabar, that members of the association had suffered series of abduction from kidnappers.
Mkpanam, who expressed dissatisfaction with the trend, said that the attacks were frequently perpetrated on their colleagues while discharging their legitimate duties of saving lives.
He said that Ekanem, a former chairman of NMA in the state, was kidnapped on December 26, 2017 by some unidentified men, adding that the state government and security agencies were not doing enough to rescue their colleague.
“As we address you today, it is with grief that we make public the fact that a very senior medical practitioner and one time chairman of NMA has been in the kidnappers’ den for 10 days and counting.
“As doctors, we swore an oath to save lives of members of the public who are in need of our skills.
“We have observed with dismay a dangerous trend in which the security and lives of the same doctor is being threatened by some disgruntled members of the society.
“The NMA in Cross River hereby instructs all its members, both in public and private medical facilities, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Institutional Hospitals, General Hospitals, Mission Hospitals and others to withdraw their services.
“They are to observe a total and indefinite withdrawal of services to members of the public until such a time that our colleague is safely released by his captors and measures taken to forestall future occurrences.
“It is noteworthy that in 2017, within Calabar alone, five doctors and three of their dependents and family members were kidnapped at various locations,” he said.
The NMA chairman called on Gov. Ben Ayade and all the relevant security agencies to urgently intervene in the matter.
He said that the kidnappers had earlier established contact with the family of the victim where they demanded for a ransom of N100 million and later reduced it to N20million.
The post Kidnapping: NMA Threatens Withdrawal Of Services In C/River appeared first on Independent Nigeria.
Kidnapping: NMA Threatens Withdrawal Of Services In C/River
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