Medical Doctors protest killing of female colleague in Port Harcourt

It was a solemn day for medical doctors in Rivers State as they came out in their numbers to condemn recent security challenges faced while discharging their duties.

The medical doctors, dressed in black, started their demonstration from Garrison axis of the state to Government House to register their complaints.

The State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr Datonye Alasia, told newsmen that they were concerned about attacks on health facilities by criminals and the recent trend where doctors were indiscriminately kidnapped in the 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 we 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 Gate by the Chief of Staff, Chief Emeka Woke, who assured that their complaint would be delivered to Governor Nyesom Wike.

Recall that a medical doctor, Dr. Florence Onua, was shot dead by gunmen in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.

Onua,  who was a consultant and family physician at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, BMSH, Port Harcourt, was reportedly shot while returning from work on Friday by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers. She later died, on Saturday , at a medical centre where she was rushed to.