THE HOUSE of Representatives has called for quick intervention of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other security agencies for the rescue of 20 medical students abducted along Otukpo-Enugu highway in Benue State.
National Record broke the news of the abduction Friday morning following a tipoff from a reliable source. The students, 20 in number, from the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri, were abducted last Thursday along Otukpo-Enugu highway while on their way to a conference organised by the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students (FECAMDS) which held over the weekend at the Enugu State University of Technology.
The spokesperson of the House, Hon. Akin Rotimi, in a statement on Saturday said the incident had caused significant alarm and distress across the country.
He added that the House remained committed to supporting initiatives that enhance the security and safety of all Nigerians and would continue to monitor the situation closely.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the abducted students and their families. We call for immediate and decisive action to ensure their safe return,” Rotimi noted.
Rotimi noted the letter the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Secretary-General, Dr. Benjamin Egbo, wrote to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egebtokun, seeking his intervention, and the plea and deep concern of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) over the safety and well-being of these future medical professionals.
“Given the urgency of this matter and the potential risks to the lives of these young students, we implore your office to deploy all necessary resources to secure their immediate and safe return.
“The Nigerian Medical Association is deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of these future medical professionals, and we believe that swift and decisive action by the Nigeria Police Force is crucial at this time,” he said.
The chairman of the House Committee on Healthcare Services, Dennis Idahosa, said “The safety of our medical students is paramount, and this incident is not just an attack on these young professionals but on the future of our healthcare system. We cannot afford to lose any more lives to the insecurity plaguing our country. No student should be fearful of going about their lawful duties in the country. We demand decisive action from our security agencies to bring these students home safely.”
“The House remains committed to supporting initiatives that enhance the security and safety of all Nigerians and will continue to monitor this situation closely.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the abducted students and their families. We call for immediate and decisive action to ensure their safe return,” the statement stressed.
Meanwhile, the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) of Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, during a peaceful protest around the hospital on Monday, demanding for the release of one of their members, Dr Ganiyat Popoola, who was abducted late December last year in Kaduna State, also demanded the freedom of the 20 medical students of the Universities of Jos and Maiduguri.
The doctors, led by their President, Olusola Monehin, walked around the hospital as they call for the unconditional and safe return of Dr Popoola and her nephew over seven months after their abduction.
Popoola, said to be a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, was abducted alongside her husband and a 7-year-old nephew.
Her husband was released in March but the doctor and her nephew have remained captives in the custody of their kidnappers.
The doctors, during the protest, carried banners and placards bearing various messages such as “FG must help bring back Dr Ganiyat Popoola,” “We demand the release of Dr Popoola now”, and “The security agencies should help free Dr Popoola”, among others.
“All we are saying is that the federal government should deploy all the resources at their disposal to set free Dr Ganiyat Popoola. This a mother of five for God’s sake. She even had a six-month-old baby at the time she was abducted.
“Here is a woman contributing her quota to qualitative health care delivery in the country, serving people with all her passion and over seven months after her abduction, we have not seen her return together with her nephew.
“The security efforts should double up their efforts to get these Nigerians out of the gulag of these criminals. We are on our knees begging the government to act fast and do all that is necessary to free Dr Popoola and the 20 medical students,” Monehin said.
While reflecting on the ongoing doctors’ strike in the state over payment disparity, Monehin called on notable indigenes of the state to prevail on the governor, Dapo to accede to their demands.
“This strike, though regrettable, is to help in delivering qualitative healthcare to the residents of the state or how much can we do when the few doctors that remain in the government-owned health facilities are also moving out to other neighbouring states, Babcock University Hospital among others because of remuneration?
“What we are demanding is an upward review of our CONMESS salary and this is something that we have been talking about since last year. We have other states like Lagos and others that have implemented it. We are saying that our earnings with doctors in federal government establishments and others must be the same.
“This is how we can retain the few hands that have not embraced “japa syndrome”, a term we popularly use for people travelling abroad to seek greener pasture because of poor remuneration, poor welfare and stifling working environment.”
“There is ongoing engagement with the government but it has not been fruitful because they are talking of minimum wage but what we are demanding is separate, it is the upward review of our salary structure, it comes first before the minimum wage,” Monehin said.
