According to Vanguard, medical doctors in Cross River State under the umbrella of Nigerian Medical Association, NMA and Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN) have barricaded the Governor’s Office, Calabar, demanding for the safe and unconditional release of their colleague, Dr. Marcus Inyama that was kidnapped last week.
Vanguard reports that the doctors in their hundreds earlier took their peaceful protest to the Cross River State House of Assembly Complex, before moving to the Government House to block the entrance.
It would be recalled that a Consultant Hematologist at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH, Dr. Marcus Inyama was abducted on the 18th of July, 2019, at around 7:00 pm while he was driving back home from his church meeting with his family at Ikot Effio in Akpabuyo local government area. Doctors were seen carrying placards with the inscriptions; “we cannot continue to save lives while ours is under constant threat, release Dr. Marcus safe and unconditional, the struggle will continue until Dr. Marcus is released, and so on.
Addressing the Deputy governor, Ivara Esu at the governor’s office, the Chairman of NMA in Cross River,Dr. Agam Ayuk said that since the kidnap of their colleagues, his abductors have been making outrageous demands and have increased the ransom.
His words: “Since they took our colleague, the kidnappers are demanding for the very outrageous amount and we as an association cannot afford to come up with such an amount, we don’t pay the ransom and we don’t contribute to ransom payment.
“We are here for a very specific request, in the past four years, we have at least had 14 kidnappings of doctors and family members. Just this year alone, in the past two months, one of our doctors was kidnapped in Ogoja.
“We cannot go to work; we work both day and night. A situation whereby you were called from home to come and save lives, we are helpless, we cannot live the house, and we believe that the government has what it takes to solve this so that cross river state can give us.
First of all we need the unconditional al release of our colleague secondly your Excellency, we need more security in Cross River state, and the economy and business in cross river state are not growing with insecurity.
“You are also aware that there were several kidnapping in the state, just few days ago, former honorable was kidnapped at Efio-Ette junction so for us as a professional body, we believe that government whose primary responsibility is security and welfare of the people we suggested you,”Ayuk decried.
Reacting, Deputy Governor of Cross River,Prof. Ivara Esu said the truth was that government was more concerned than anybody else as far as it was about security and welfare of the citizenry.
Ivara said: “The truth is that government is more concern than you yourselves. Today is the medical doctors tomorrow it may be a very top politician, it may be another person, everybody is equally important.
“We are monitoring the movement from minute to minute of your colleague. Where he is, who is there and so on, I want to assure you that this your pronouncement and demonstration won’t help us,
“Withdrawal of your services has not help us for you to withdraw your services from the various hospital because unfortunately, there are more important person than does kidnappers may be involve and may die and some persons may have died for not being attended to,” he appealed .
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