Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Medical practitioners in Delta State have declared a two-day warning strike to protest the kidnap of a Principal Medical Officer at the General Hospital, Ojobo in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, Wisdom Iboyitete.
Iboyitete was kidnapped by 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.
The two-day warning strike, which commenced yesterday, was declared on Monday by the state branch of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) at the end of an emergency meeting of the body.
In a statement, the association directed its members, under Ughelli and Bomadi medical zones, to embark on a warning strike to demand the immediate release of their colleague.
The statement signed by NAGGMDP’s Chairman, Ebikagboro Olayinka and Secretary, Ikechukwu Okoh, called for the unconditional release of Iboyitete.
The association threatened that if by tomorrow their colleague is not released, NAGGMDP members will embark on indefinite strike.
Meanwhile, the purported release of a suspected case of COVID-19 at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Asaba, Delta State is generating controversy.
While the state government said the 53-year-old patient, Michael Nwachukwu Mordi, was forced out of the treatment centre by his relatives, the patient said doctors approved his discharged.
Mordi, a nurse officer at the Central Hospital, Agbor, was said to have tested positive on May 23 and subsequently admitted at FMC, Asaba COVID-19 treatment centre the following day.
A statement by the state Commissioner for Health, Mordi Ononye, expressed displeasure over the uncooperative stance of Mordi since his admission at the centre.
Ononye said the patient has been very aggressive and threatened the caregivers and also rejected his medications.
But, in a telephone chat with Daily Sun in Asaba, Mordi said he was very fine at his residence in Agbor, insisting that he was allowed to go by his caregivers.
