THE time is ripe to address the continued spate of abduction of health workers by suspected kidnappers, a development that has unsettled the health and security sectors in the country. Most affected are medical doctors going by the trending cases of Dr. Ganiya Popoola and the 20 medical students who were recently rescued from the den of kidnappers in Benue State.
While Popoola, a Registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, was abducted in December 2023 and is still in kidnappers’ custody, the 20 medical students, who were traveling to Enugu for their annual Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) Convention, were abducted in Otukpo, Benue State on August 15 and have been released after a traumatizing experiences in the hands of their captors.These are just a few cases of attacks on health workers in the country. Unfortunately, it is coming when the government is battling to contend with the incidents of doctors leaving the country in droves in what has been popularly known as the Japa syndrome. No Doubt, the exodus has affected services in various federal and state health facilities in the country.
In the past, the problem of assault on medical doctors by relations of patients was the norm in some of our medical facilities. As negligible as they are, these assaults have resulted in protest and closure of hospitals by doctors.
Unfortunately, the fate suffered by medical personnel in the course of serving the public is taking a dangerous dimension with their intermittent abduction for ransom. They have become so vulnerable that kidnappers see them as ‘big fish’, yet they are bearing the brunt of unproductive socio-economic policies like other Nigerians.
Some times in 2023, a group of international nongovernmental organisations, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, revealed that 109 health workers were kidnapped and 17 killed between 2019 and 2023. The data indicated that medical doctors, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists were targeted.
These kidnaps took place at their homes, offices or while traveling on official duties. For instance, from the records of the NGO, 13 health workers were kidnapped while they were working at hospitals in Adamawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Oyo, and Zamfara States. Two were kidnapped in home invasions in Akwa Ibom and Niger States.
Also, a medical doctor working with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Ekanem Ephraim, was abducted in her residence in Akwa Ibom by kidnappers who disguised as patients.
While many were considered lucky to have paid ransom and released alive, they were those who could not make it back to their families as they died in the kidnappers’ den or killed out rightly by their abductors.
These incidents reflect the rising cases of terrorism, banditry, armed robbery and kidnapping that charaterised the society. It is disturbing that little or not much is being done to save the situation.
Presently, doctors are relocating to safer climes abroad in protest over poor pay and insecurity. Other medical personnel like nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists are also toeing the same line.
The country cannot continue in this trajectory and expect to pursue all the health policies put in place to save the lives of the populace. Steps must be taken to save the situation and give the doctors and nurses a conducive environment to ply their trades.
We appreciate the rescue efforts to secure the release of the 20 medical students in Benue State by security agents without paying ransom. While we commend the achievement, it is recommended that they should apply same strategy to ensure that Dr. Popoola, whose kidnap has instigated protests and a one-week warning strike, is also rescued.
Besides, various arms of government should give priority to the safety of medical personnel and save them from the menace of assault by patients’ relations and abductors. Government should also provide employment for youths who are lured into crimes due to lack of employment opportunities.
The idea of advertising the pay of health officers through agitations (strike) or government insensitivity to MoUs should be checkmated. On their part, doctors, nurses and others should embrace low profile life to ward off criminals.
Nigeria health workers have suffered untold fate in the hands of terrorists and kidnappers, and now is the time to put an end to it and guarantee quality health services for the populace.
