NMA Appeals to C’River to Provide Security for Doctors

As another doctor was Monday kidnapped in Cross River State, the state chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has called on the state government to provide security for its members to work in a conducive environment.

The NMA stated this on Tuesday against the backdrop of the kidnapping of a Senior Registrar in Paediatrics Department, University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Dr. Emem Udoh.

Incidentally Udoh was kidnapped on Monday night, hours after the NMA suspended its plan to embark on strike following the release on Sunday of one of its members, Dr. Usang Ekanem, who was earlier kidnapped on December 26, 2017, with the  kidnappers demanding a ransom of N100 million. It was not clear whether any ransom was paid to the kidnappers for Ekanem to be freed.

However, following the abduction of Udoh on Monday, the NMA in the state through a press statement by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Dr. Ernest Ochang, said the latest action was a threat to the very existence of its members in the state.

The NMA said it was even more disturbed by the silence and inaction of the state government over the incessant abduction of its members.