Rescue Abducted Medical Personnel or Face Strike Action, NMA Tells Niger

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Niger State Chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), has told the Niger State Government to rescue the medical personnel abducted by bandits from the Abdulsalami Abubakar General Hospital in Gulu in the Lapai Local Government Area of the state two weeks ago or face industrial action.

A medical doctor and pharmacist as well as other medical staff were kidnapped from the hospital where two villagers were also killed with one of them slaughtered by the gunmen.

The NMA gave the government seven days within which to secure the release of the abductees.

A statement made available to newsmen in Minna yesterday and signed by the State Chairman of the NMA, Dr. Yussuf Mohammed, said that the organisation has to issue the threat because of the non-committal position of the government on the issue of the rescue of those abducted.

Muhammad said that government should deploy the entire arsenal in its amoury to swiftly rescue the abducted medical personnel who are spending their second week in captivity.

He said: “We want the State Government to immediately coordinate its activities by ensuring that our Member and other medical staff abducted are freed unconditionally and save their families the trauma.” 

According to him, the spate of insecurity in the state is hampering his members from carrying out their duties in remote locations across the State and therefore asked the government to urgently provide security cover for all medical facilities and personnel to safeguard them and the patients patronising such facilities.

“Lets sound it loud and clear that if security cover is not provided to health care facilities and we have a repeat of what happened at Gulu General Hospital, we will immediately down tools,” Mohammed said.