INSECURITY: Abduction Of A Medical Doctor Spark Off Protest In Calabar
2 min readAll hospitals, Clinics owned by Government and private in Cross River State, as well as the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) were shut down Tuesday, September 2, by medical doctors in the State. The Doctors were protesting the abduction of one of their colleagues, Dr. Vivien Mesembe Otu by alleged kidnappers.
Otu was abducted on Friday evening near a popular market in Calabar municipality by unidentified gunmen and her whereabouts could not yet be ascertained.
They were said to have abandoned their duty posts and staged a protest to the State House of Assembly complex where they were addressed by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Jonas Eteng before they marched to the Governor’s Office.
The State Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Innocent Abang, said: “We have come to present our grievances to the governor because of the incessant kidnap of our colleagues and how we have become endangered species in Cross River State. “We pay tax in this State and we are protecting lives and saving lives. So, we want to tell the government to protect our land and give us the privilege to continue to save lives.
“The State Security Adviser, who is standing in for the governor, should brief us on how far they have gone to assure us that our colleague is safe and will be released to us today. We don’t want it beyond today. We want Cross River State to be safe from kidnapping. Other States had it this way and they are doing well now. We can also do well”.
