The Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State on Monday witnessed a peaceful protest by the Association of Resident Doctors, ARD.
The doctors were demanding for the hospital on Monday, demanding the release of Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, a colleague of theirs, who was abducted in Kaduna State in December last year.
The protesting doctors also demanded the release of the 20 medical students of the University of Jos and Maiduguri, who were abducted along Otukpa-Otukpo-Enugu Road, Benue State last week.
Led by their President, Dr. Olusola Monehin, marched around the hospital, demanding the unconditional Dr Popoola, a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna, and her nephew, who have been in the captivity of their abductors for over seven months.
It was gathered that she was in company with her husband and seven-year-old nephew at the time she was abducted.
Her husband, who was also abducted, was released in March, but the doctor and her nephew were left languishing in the camp of their abductors.
During the protest, the protesting doctors note banners and placards with various inscriptions, such as: “FG must help bring back Dr Ganiyat Popoola’’, “We demand the release of Dr Popoola now”, and “The security agencies should help free Dr Popoola”, among others.
“All we are saying is that the Federal Government should deploy all the resources at their disposal to set free Dr Ganiyat Popoola,” Monehin demanded.
“This is a mother of five for God’s sake. She even had a six-month-old baby at the time she was abducted.
“Here is a woman contributing her quota to qualitative health care delivery in the country, serving people with all her passion and over seven months after her abduction, we have not seen her return together with her nephew.”
On the abducted medical students, Monehin further said: “And just on Thursday, another 20 medical students of the University of Jos were waylaid and abducted in Benue. This goes to show that the insecurity challenge is not getting better. We are, therefore, calling on the appropriate authority to act fast.
“The security efforts should double up their efforts to get these Nigerians out of the gulag of these criminals. We are on our knees begging the government to act fast and do all that is necessary to free Dr Popoola and the 20 medical students.”
Speaking on the ongoing doctors’ strike in the state over payment disparity, Monehin called on notable indigenes of the state to prevail on Governor Dapo Abiodun to address their demands.
“This strike, though regrettable, is to help in delivering qualitative healthcare to the residents of the state or how much can we do when the few doctors that remain in the government-owned health facilities are also moving out to other neighbouring states, Babcock University Hospital among others because of remuneration?” He said.
“What we are demanding is an upward review of our CONMESS salary and this is something that we have been talking about since last year. We have other states like Lagos and others that have implemented it. We are saying that our earnings with doctors in federal government establishments and others must be the same.
“This is how we can retain the few hands that have not embraced ‘japa syndrome’, a term we popularly use for people travelling abroad to seek greener pastures because of poor remuneration, poor welfare and stifling working environment.”
“There is ongoing engagement with the government but it has not been fruitful because they are talking of minimum wage but what we are demanding is separate, it is the upward review of our salary structure, it comes first before the minimum wage.”
