Newly elected chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Cross River state, Dr Innocent Abang, has said doctors in the state would go on strike over the kidnap of their colleague, Dr Vivien Otu.
Dr Otu, a pediatrician in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), was abducted at the weekend by dare devil gunmen who shot sporadically into the air before making away with her.
In his reaction, the NMA chairman said, “I was told she went to the wake of our colleague’s mother. I think she went to pick her husband who was sitting with colleagues and when she got to the place, she wanted to pick something from the car. That was when she was whisked away.
“We have been in contact with security agents. They are trying to get her but since her phones are not with her, they can’t trace her,” he stated.
Abang explained that it was mandatory to the Association to always embark on strike anytime a doctor is kidnapped.
“The truth is that it is a directive given to us. Whenever any of us is abducted, we have to go on strike. I don’t know how soon that will happen. We are having a meeting today and it will be decided in the meeting.”
There are, however, contradicting reports on how Dr Otu was abducted. While it is reported in some quarters that the doctor was whisked away while she was about to enter her vehicle shortly after eating at a popular food joint called BELASH located at Marian, her colleagues said Dr Otu was abducted at the wake of her colleague’s mother which was in a place close to BELASH and that the kidnappers whisked her away when she went to pick something from her vehicle.
As at press time, DSP Irene Ugbo, spokesman of the Cross River state Police command could not be reached through her telephone lines when our reporter called.
The abduction of Dr Otu came barely six weeks after Dr Inyama Marcus, Associate Professor of Haemotology in the same UCTH was kidnapped and released after many days in the kidnappers’ den.
