Photo: Doctors Protest In Rivers State

Doctors under the aegis of the Nigerian Medical Association in Rivers state have embarked on a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt.

The Doctors are protesting against incessant abduction of their members in different parts of the state.

Chairman of the NMA in the state, Furo Green who led the protest said twenty-one Doctors were kidnapped last year in the state with the Police yet to arrest any suspected kidnapper of Doctors despite the outcry.

Green who recalled the recent kidnap of four Doctors in the last two weeks, wondered why Doctors suddenly became targets of kidnappers.

“Our protest I s about the kidnap of Doctors in Rivers state. Last year, 21 Doctors were kidnapped. 15 of those Doctors live and work in Rivers state.

“We as an association are not aware that any of those kidnappers of these 21 Doctors have been arrested, prosecuted or have been convicted,” he said.

Responding to the agitations of the Doctors, the state Commissioner for Health, Theophilus Odagme said the Rivers state government was aware of the plight of the Doctors in the state.

Odagme assured that the state government was committed to partnering with security agencies in a bid to stem the tide of kidnapping and insecurity not only for Doctors but all residents of the state.

ON his part, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Musa Kimo affirmed that kidnapping is a major crime in Rivers state.

CP Kimo disclosed that the command is re-strategizing its approach to curb the menace, adding that all the Police needs from the general public was valid information that will help them to raid criminal hide-outs in the state.