As resident doctors down tools across the country to protest the kidnap of their colleagues, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors has given an insight into why health practitioners are prime targets of kidnappers.
Saturday PUNCH gathered no fewer than 32 medical doctors were still in captivity, including Dr Ganiyat Popoola, a Kaduna-based doctor, who had been in the kidnappers’ den for over eight months.
On Monday, NARD commenced a seven-day warning strike to push for the rescue of Popoola, who was kidnapped last December 27, 2023.
Popoola, a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, was abducted alongside her husband, Nurudeen Popoola, a squadron leader, and her nephew, Folaranmi Abdul-Mugniy, who stays with them.
After negotiation with the kidnappers, the husband was released on March 8, 2024, but the doctor and Abdul-Mugniy were not released despite the payment of N120m ransom.
The President of the ARD at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Dr Innocent Abah, said aside from Popoola, 31 other kidnapped medical doctors were in captivity.
“As I speak with you right now, we have about 32 of our members currently in captivity. Some were noted to have died. For some, ransom has been paid, but they have not been reunited with their families. Some are alive, but our data shows that about 32 of our members are currently in captivity,” Abah disclosed on a television interview.
The doctor, who also spoke to Saturday PUNCH, identified the doctors abducted in 2021 as Dr Akindele Kayode (abducted January 4), Dr Oladunni Odetola (April 4), Dr Solomon Ndiamaka (July 19), Dr Edmund Akpaikpe (November 19) Dr Zubair Erubu (December 9) and Dr Saidu Bala (December 10).
Those taken in 2022 include Dr Samuel Audu (January 9), Dr Felix Ekpo (February 22), Dr Bulama (March 15), Dr Chinelo Megafu (March 28), and Dr Steven Baashaw (December 10).
The 2023 list includes Prof. Ekanem Phillip (July 13), Dr Orockarrah Orock (November 4), and Dr Ganiyat Popoola (December 27).
For 2024, some of the abducted doctors are Dr John Robin Esu (April 30), Dr Gimba’s Family (June 27), Dr Steven Ezeh (August 15), and Dr Olufunke Fadahunsi (August 23).
However, five other doctors – Dr Luis Onyeukwu (August 15, 2024), Dr Asema Msuega (July 23, 2023), Dr Nwoga Innocent and Dr Obadiah Etito (May 13, 2023) and Dr Alex Igyemwase (November 22, 2022) were said to have been released by their captors.
Why doctors are targeted
The NARD Vice President II and Chairman of the Medical Education Committee, Dr Kefas Wida, said the constant capture of medical doctors was due to the kidnappers’ need for medical services at their hideouts.
She said, “The kidnappers are abducting doctors so they can treat other victims they have kidnapped, and this has been a consistent strategy.
“This kidnapping of doctors cuts across all regions, zones, and states in the country. The part that worries us most is that there is a problem on ground, and if you cannot enrich them, if you cannot give them the best practices of service, the least you should do is to make sure that they are alive and healthy to work.
“Once that’s not there, then there’s no basis for work, everybody should stay at home so that we know that everybody does not have this problem.”
Corroborating Wida’s position, the President of ARD at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Dr Charles Aisudo, said some of the released doctors told the association that they were used to attend to the medical needs of the kidnappers and victims at their camps.
“Most of the doctors kidnapped and later released told us that they were used by the kidnappers as a stop-gap to treat the injured or sick ones among the gang, and to provide medical services to other kidnap victims and write drug prescriptions for them. Yes, that is what they do and that is what our freed colleagues have said,” he stated.
On his part, Abah said the association had seen an upsurge in the kidnap of doctors and health workers. The Abuja ARD president said until the government rose to the challenge, nothing would happen.
“Before, you used to have like two cases in a month, but now, it has become a weekly occurrence. This tells you that something is not right. We understand that kidnapping is a general problem. However, recent evidence has shown that doctors are targets. It is not as if doctors are kidnapped on the highway or walkways, but right inside their facilities. Prof Ekanem was kidnapped inside her clinic in Calabar,” he added.
Abah told Saturday PUNCH that the emerging pandemic had shown that the health sector was in crisis and the situation might soon become messier.
He said, “The WHO recommendation for doctor-to-patient ratio is at one to six. The NMA president, Prof Bala Audu, made us understand that this has fallen below 1000 per cent in the country as currently; we have four doctors to 10,000 patients. But out of these, we have a whooping number of 32 known to us to be in captivity.
“The detained doctors should be able to man at least seven teaching hospitals comfortably, provide comprehensive healthcare to patients in rural facilities, in the primary healthcare sector, and in the secondary health sector. But all of these our colleagues are being held in different captivity camps. This is why we are rising up to draw government’s attention.”
To tame the incessant kidnap of doctors, the NMA President, Prof Bala Audu, said the government must provide adequate security in hospitals.
“We are busy taking care of others and we have not been taken care of. We want the security agencies to do their job, protect us, our children and family.
“They need to beef up security, particularly around the hospitals, because we are very vulnerable, we go out at all hours, and everybody is becoming scared,” he told our correspondent on Thursday.
Patients in pain
Meanwhile, the warning strike embarked upon by NARD over the abduction of their colleagues is taking a serious toll on health services across the country.
Saturday PUNCH noted that federal teaching hospitals were deserted by doctors in different parts of the country.
A patient, Maria Echia, said she had been experiencing severe abdominal pain before she decided to visit the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja. According to her, she arrived early, hoping to get prompt care.
But as the hours dragged on, the crowded waiting room grew tense as the air was thick with anxiety.
By 5.30pm, after enduring a grueling day of waiting, Echia said she was finally seen by a doctor who referred her to the Radiology department for a follow-up.
The next morning, she returned to the hospital, anxious. Yet, as 9am approached, there were still no doctors available to attend to her.
“I am under the National Health Insurance Authority, and if you go there, you will meet a lot of people complaining. When I came here yesterday (Wednesday), only one doctor was at the NHIA clinic.
“I have to wait for them to send my code to where I will receive treatment; that’s why I’m here again today (Thursday) to run some tests to know what exactly is wrong with me,” she said.
Already, her frustration had reached a breaking point with her face etched with concern.
“I was here all day yesterday and waited. Why isn’t anyone seeing us?”
“It’s frustrating. The strike is really affecting us,” Echie said and slumped into a chair in front of the radiology department, feeling helpless.
When our correspondent visited the NHIA clinic, the waiting room was a chorus of complaints and worried murmurs, with patients growing increasingly disheartened.
Mrs Emily Carter, another patient, was at the clinic some minutes past 6am but at 9am, her daughter had yet to see a doctor.
Mrs Carter, clutching her daughter close, joined the long line of anxious faces in the waiting room. The once orderly space was now a maze of restless patients and worried family members.
As the hours passed, Emily’s anxiety grew.
“My daughter woke up this morning with a high fever, so I had to rush her to the hospital, but we are yet to see any doctor. Just look at my baby. I don’t know when we will be seen, but I will wait because we can’t go back home like this,” she stated, holding back her tears.
“This cannot continue like this. The government needs to attend to the doctors’ request,” she added.
Another patient at the General Out-Patient Department, Wisdom Ogbonna, lamented the delay as he came at 7.30am and as of 8.45am he had yet to see a doctor. Ogbonna shuffled into the waiting area with a wince. The early morning air was cool, but Ogbonna’s joints were aching intensely.
The waiting room was already crowded with patients, each person nursing their ailments and anxieties. He soon took a seat, his discomfort making it difficult to get comfortable. He glanced at the clock on the wall, noting the passage of time as he tried to distract himself from the pain with his phone.
The healthcare workers taking their vitals were already overwhelmed as many cases needed attention.
“I didn’t know of any strike. This is my first time at the hospital and I didn’t know it was going to be like this despite coming here early. I hope I leave here on time,” he said.
When Saturday PUNCH visited the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on Thursday, our correspondent observed that the emergency unit had few patients and there was no electricity supply.
Aisudo, the ARD President of the hospital, said the strike had hindered the admission of new patients to the hospital because his colleagues, which consist of 90 per cent of the hospital’s medical workforce, were not at work.
He said, “As you can see, the strike has affected the patients, because we are not on ground, though the consultants are on ground, because they are not part of NARD or the local ARD.
“The management in their own way has been able to circumvent the issues on the workload. They said they shouldn’t discharge any patient. But the possibility of admitting new patients at both the emergency ward and the clinic has not been feasible due to the reduced workload since we formed the majority of doctors available for the care of the patients. The strike has definitely affected the admission of patients because almost 90 per cent of the doctors are on strike.”
Rescue operation not easy – Police
According to the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, rescue operations are not as easy as the populace thinks.
Adejobi said, “The IGP has promised that the police and even the government will not leave any kidnapped victims in captivity. When we handed over the rescue of 20 medical students and another seven to the school and their families, the IGP echoed its commitment. A rescue operation is always very difficult, and very tedious.
“And it is dedicated in the sense that, in most cases, these kidnappers use their victims as shields. So, any attempt for you to be careless about it, you are going to lose the victim, lose the suspect.
“So, it is better for us to have one suspect alive, rescued alive than to say we have killed 50 bandits during an attack and we still lost our victims.
“Of what benefit is it for us? Where we understand the apprehension is we understand that our target, our mandate, and our job is to have our people rescued alive. So, a rescue operation is not as easy as that.
“We are deploying all our resources; we are using all our experiences, all our gadgets, to make sure all victims in captivity across the country are rescued. NSA has been fantastic. We have their equipment, officers supporting all the police, and the military. All of us are working together in this regard.
He stated the police had been working and had ensured the rescue of some victims.
Adejobi said, “Every day, we rescue, and we roll out statistics. At least 2-4 weeks every month, we address the media and roll-out statistics. Last month we rescued 120 victims, if I’m not mistaken. So, it’s not that we don’t do anything. In the process of this rescue operation, we lost officers. They attack us, they kill our officers. So, it’s not that we are insensitive to the protection of lives and property of Nigerians.”
