The Nigerian Medical Association, (NMA) has blamed the mass exodus of medical doctors out of the country on the spate of insecurity in Nigeria.
The Kogi State Chairman of NMA, Dr Abubakar Hassan, who spoke to news correspondent on Friday in Lokoja, about the ongoing nationwide strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, (NARD) lamented that medical personnel had recently become the prime targets for criminal elements despite their service to humanity.
Hassan argued that it had crippled the health services across the nation and that Kogi State was not exempted.
According to him, “Dr Ganiya is not the only one in captivity. There are many others that are unreported.
“I should add that in a particular North Central State, at least two doctors are currently in captivity, one for an upward of one year now. The second one happened only recently, just a week ago. The story is the same across the entire country.
“It has gotten to a state that doctors themselves, having been patient for too long despite the unfavorable situation in the country, are becoming patients, no thanks to their ordeals in the hands of these hoodlums.
“Doctors are becoming patients simply because they need the attention of other medical practitioners each time they fall victims of kidnap; they suffer physical injuries and psychological trauma in the process.
“So, imagine a doctor going out in the morning to attend to patients but on his way also turning out to be a patient to be attended to by other colleagues in the aftermath of his ordeals in the hands of kidnappers. This is the situation we have come to find ourselves in Nigeria.
“It is one of the reasons responsible for the mass exodus of doctors from Nigeria to other countries. We have gotten to a stage where practising in some African Countries is becoming more attractive to doctors in Nigeria.
“Even if you were to pay someone N10,000,000 per month, if he cannot sleep with his two eyes closed, such a person cannot be guaranteed movement from his resident to the hospital to attend to his patients, this results in anxiety and a great many people are suffering from anxiety.”
In a chat with the President, Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Teaching Hospital Lokoja, Dr Jimoh Umar, he told our correspondent that there was full compliance on the warning strike in Kogi State.
While admitting that the security of medical doctors have continued to deteriorate in the country, Umar charged the government to urgently look into their demands.
