- Police state that information on kidnapped doctors will not be released to the public
The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on Monday has began a seven-day warning strike to protest against the incarceration of Dr Ganiyat Poopola who has been kidnapped for 8 months now.
Dr Poopola who is a member of NARD and a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre in Kaduna,was abducted alongside her husband and nephew in kaduna. Though her husband has been released the both doctor and nephew remain in captivity.
The NARD President, Dr. Dele Abdullahi, in a statement made available to newsmen announced that the the strike will commence on Monday, August 26, 2024, at midnight.
This decision, according to him, was reached during a virtual Emergency National Executive Council meeting convened on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
He emphasized that the warning strike would be comprehensive, with no emergency services provided during this period.
Recently, members of NARD staged protests in all tertiary hospitals across the country, demanding the immediate release of Dr Popoola.
Dr Poopola is not the only medical personnel still held in captivity. 19 student doctors and 1 medical doctor were abducted on Thursday in Oturkpo area of Benue State, enroute to Enugu for their Federation of Medical and Dental Students conference.
The Nigerian police force have announced that information relating to their efforts to secure the release of these doctors would not be published online for security reasons.
As medical personnel continue to live in fear for their safety as the general public, emergency patients might be left to fend for themselves for the next 7 days.
