The Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, EKSUTH, has joined others in a solidarity protest for the release of their abducted colleague, Dr Ganiyat Popoola.
Doctor Popoola who is an Ophthalmologist at the National Eye Center in Kaduna was kidnapped on December 27, 2023, alongside her husband and nephew while her husband was released in March.
Speaking with Journalists during the peaceful protest tagged “Freedom Walk” Dr Adeyemi Famous called on the Federal and Kaduna state governments as well as security agencies to take immediate action to ensure she and other medical doctors in captivity are released.
Dr Adeyemi noted that the association had agreed to embark on industrial action if Dr Popoola was not released alive.
“Many doctors in the country have been abducted this same way, since then we can count up to 10-15 doctors who have been abducted and we know that doctors are currently an endangered species in Nigeria.
“In Nigeria, we have in doctor ratio 1-10,000 in which we should just have 1-600, 1-10,000 is quite huge and that is why doctors are overworked and having burnout syndrome”
“And that is why many doctors are going outside the country, apart from other factors such as poor remuneration and facilities at the various hospitals across Nigeria, insecurity is another germane reason why doctors are going out of the country and we know that we can not continue like this for the betterment of humanity and good healthcare delivery”
“The lives of the doctors have to be secured. It makes a lot of meaning to us and we can not afford to lose more doctors to the cold hand of death and the cold hand of the abductors”
“For this reason, on behalf of the Nigerian Association of the Resident Doctors and the Nigerian Medical Association, we are asking for the immediate release of Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, we are asking that the security apparatus of the country and the government of the federation should stand up and make a serious commitment to the release of this doctor in the next few days as NARD has issued a two weeks ultimatum for the release of this doctor which will elapse at the end of this week”
“Failure of which will result in an indefinite strike and we don’t want to see this happen, for this reason, we are pleading with the government.
Reacting, the Chief Medical Director, Ekiti State Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Professor Kayode Olabanji commended the doctors for their peaceful conduct, expressing dissatisfaction over the increasing rate of kidnapping and other security threats in the country”
Dr Olabanji called on the government to find lasting solutions to the insecurity in the country, in the interest of all.
