In a show of solidarity, practising doctors marched through the streets of Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, on Tuesday, demanding justice for the kidnapped Dr. Austin Uwumagbe.
Last week, unidentified gunmen believed to be kidnappers seized Dr. Austin Uwumagbe, who serves as the Director of Victory Hospital Annex in Ogaminana, situated within Kogi State’s Adavi Local Government Area.
Based on information from a visitor who inspected Kogi State Specialist Hospital Lokoja, Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja, and various healthcare facilities in the state capital, it was evident that doctors were not on duty to attend to patients requiring medical care.
Dr. Olusola Baoku, the Chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association in Kogi State, shared insights on the medical doctors’ protest with newsmen, pointing out the historical vulnerability of healthcare practitioners to criminal elements in the country.
He expressed his dismay, pointing out that in the past two years alone, more than 48 doctors have fallen victim to kidnappings throughout the nation.
Baoku voiced his disapproval of the belief that doctors are exceptionally wealthy and should be subjected to kidnapping for ransom.
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He stated, ‘If you go around Kogi State right now, you won’t find any doctor at work. We believe that an injury to one is an injury to all. Our colleague has been in captivity for over five days and nothing has been heard positively to secure his release. Some of our members are agitated and restless because nobody knows who will be kidnapped next. People are no longer safe to go to work.’
‘We are in touch with the family and the family is in touch with security agencies. For us, we are not involved in negotiation because we are not security agencies or agencies of government. Our own is to solidarise with our colleague who is still in captivity.’
‘The general public should stop this misconception that doctors are rich. We want the public to know that we are living from hand to mouth. Our salaries are meagre as we built our houses with loans, making us incur huge debt. If you do your background check, a larger percentage of doctors are in debt with three or four financial institutions.’
‘Doctors are also bedevilled with the problem of assisting patients who cannot pay their hospital bills. In the end, we pay their bills from our salaries. You will find out that when a doctor gets a salary, it will be remaining peanuts since they have spent it in settling different debts. They should stop kidnapping doctors for ransom because we are very poor. Our accounts are empty,’ Baoku lamented.
The Chairman of the NMA, on the other hand, clarified that the abductors have made contact with the family members and are requesting a ransom.
‘They have demanded a very huge ransom, which no single individual can raise. That is why the NMA is crying for help so that our colleague can be released immediately,’ he stated.
He entreated the Kogi State Government and security forces to take quick action to bring about the safe release of the abducted victim.