Rising from an emergency meeting, the Delta State Chapter of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners, NAGGMDP, on Monday night declared a two-day warning strike to protest the kidnap of Dr. Wisdom Iboyitete, a Principal Medical Officer at General Hospital, Ojobo, in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.
The warning strike took effect from Tuesday June 2, 2020.
The NAGGMDP directed its members under Ughelli and Bomadi Medical Zones to embark on a warning strike to demand for the immediate release of their abducted colleague.
In a statement signed by NAGGMDP’s Chairman, Dr. Ebikagboro Olayinka and Secretary, Dr. Ikechukwu Okoh, the body called for the unconditional release of Dr. Iboyitete.
The association threatened that if by Thursday their abducted colleague is not released by the gunmen; all members of NAGGMDP shall embark on indefinite strike across the state to press for his release by security agencies.
“Dr. Wisdom Iboyitete, a Principal Medical Officer at General Hospital, Ojobo community was abducted in the hospital premises by unknown gunmen pretending to be patients on 01/06/2020 at 00:01 WAT.
“The association had an emergency meeting today 01/06/2020 and noted that efforts made in the release of our member from the kidnappers’ den are suboptimal and call on the Delta State Government and security agencies to increase the tempo in locating and rescuing our member unscathed and unharmed.
“Consequently, the Association resolved as follows: All our members under Ughelli and Bomadi Medical Zones are to embark on a warning strike from 08:00 WAT tomorrow Tuesday 02/06/2020.
“All members of the association in the state are to commence indefinite strike action from 08:00 WAT on Thursday 04/06/2020 until he is released.
“There shall be a peaceful protest walk on Thursday 04/06/2020. This protest walk will commence from the Delta State NMA Secretariat (opposite the Cenotaph, Asaba) to the Government House and then to the Office of the Commissioner of Police in Asaba.
“To hold a Press Conference demanding his unconditional release and also highlighting the plight of doctors who are soft targets of Kidnappers in Delta State.
“We demand the unconditional release of our member Dr. Wisdom Iboyitete.”
It would be recalled that the resident doctor, Iboyitete was kidnapped by arms-wielding gunmen who pretended to be patients in the wee hours of Monday and reportedly whisked him to unknown location through the creeks in the Ijaw riverine community.