Hundreds of medical doctors today took part in a demonstration in Port Harcourt to draw attention to the security risks they face while discharging their duties across Rivers State.
The public protest is the outcome of a meeting called by the leadership of the Nigerian Medical Association to review the security situation in Rivers State and the rampant kidnapping of doctors.
The medical doctors matched from Garrison Junction on Aba Road Port down to Government House to register the complaints.
The medical doctors were all dressed in black attires, mourning one of their colleagues who died in the hands of kidnappers.
The latest medical doctor to be killed by kidnappers in Rivers State was Doctor Florence Onua who was shot last Friday and died on Saturday at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.
Addressing newsmen, the State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Doctor Datonye Alasia, expressed concern that attacks on health facilities by criminals and kidnapping of doctors in the state have become too many.
Doctor Alasia also observed a growing hospital patients who suffered violent attacks by criminals in Rivers State.
“We have become endangered species in Rivers state. We wonder why we suddenly become targets for attacks. As doctors we do humanitarian work. We save lives but here are fearing for our lives,”he said.
Other doctors involved in the protest complained about the hazards of working in an unsafe environment, with threats from cultists, robbers and kidnappers.
They warned that if the trend continues, they may resolve to abandon their duties post at various health facilities across the state.
The aggrieved medical doctors were received at the Government House’s Gate by the Chief of Staff, Emeka Woke, who assured that their complaint would be relayed to Governor Nyesom Wike.
However, Emeka Woke noted that insecurity was a global challenge and not peculiar to Rivers State, adding that the Rivers State government was committed to the protection of lives and property of the people.
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