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Judex Okoro
The Nigerian Medical Association has embarked on a peaceful protest to demand the release of the wife of their colleague, Mrs Christian Ekanem, a staff of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital.
The association also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security over the increasing rate of kidnapping in Cross River.
The 14 kilometre walk is to seek for support and also ask the government to do more in protecting lives and properties in the state.
Members of the Association carried placards with inscriptions such as “End kidnapping in Calabar,’ ‘make Cross River Safe again’, ‘NMA in Cross River demand unconditional and safe release of our doctor’s wife.’
Speaking shortly after the protest on Friday in Calabar, the Cross River State Chairman of NMA, Dr Agam Ayuk, said: “We are not safe anymore; we believe that the government can do more in using the necessary mercenaries to ensure that we have a safer Cross River.
“Cross River as a state used to be a place where people come to live and be at rest; we want it to go back to where it was.
“We all know that doctors are migrating from the country, those of us left behind to serve the public cannot wait and be kidnapped one after the other to pay ransom.
“We are out here to tell the public that enough is enough. We call on Non Government Organisations and Civil Societies to join in the struggle for a safer Cross River.
“We are calling on President Buhari and the Inspector General of Police as a matter of urgency to declare a state of emergency on security in Crose River.
“We also call on the Federal Government to mobilise the needed man power and resources to help in curbing the rate of insecurity in the state, he stated.
Mrs Ekanem was kidnapped on Macrh 10, 2020 at her residence at Satelite Town in Calabar.
Worried by such a development, the NMA had already embarked on strike and subsequently withdraw all medical services until the wife of their colleague is released unconditionally.
