By SOLA OGUNDIPE
KIDNAPPED! This was the shocker that the family members and colleagues of Dr Chidimma Okwor, a young, eight months pregnant medical doctor and mother of  three children had to contend with for 10 harrowing days this January 2012. Chidinma, a Senior Registrar at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, was abducted in front of her house along with her vehicle by unknown assailants on Tuesday 10th January, 2012.

By the time she was eventually set free on Saturday January 20, 2012, the entire nation  was very much worried about her welfare. Observers and concerned Nigerians, especially her professional colleagues who decried the incident and vowed there would be hell to pay.

They noted that the Nigerian and African society regard a pregnant woman as a precious entity. Why abduct a medical doctor, and one who is pregnant at that? “It only shows the level of decadence in the country if a woman who is eight months pregnant can be abducted and held for ransome,” they remarked.

Really, the answer is blowing in the wind apparently as not much appears to be known about the immediate and remote issues surrounding her abduction or that of several other innocent people in recent times.

Earlier, the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, MWAN, and  the Enugu state branch of the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, had called on the Federal government and the Police to ensure the  immediate and safe release of the woman.

Regretting the incident in a chat with Vanguard Features,  National President, MWAN, Dr. Christina Campbell called for the immediate release of the abducted woman in the interest of national peace and respect for womanhood.

“We are shocked and saddened by this terrible deed. It is about kidnapping, it  is about security. How can we  be providing healthcare services for others and our own lives are not secure? We are unhappy, but prayfor her safe release.”

Campbell observed that the Association was took salient measures over the incident and hinted that their members may not hesitate to down tools if the abducted doctor was not  released.

On her own part, Chairperson of the Enugu state chapter of MWAN, Dr. Uche Ijoma, was yet to overcome her shock. In a telephone chat, she stated:  “Indeed one lacks words to describe this incident. It is simply horrifying and  our hearts bleed. Our position is that she should be released by whoever is holding her. We want her back safe and sound.”

Ijoma,  a consultant physician, gastroenterologist and Senior Lecturer, UNTH, Enugu,  screamed: “We want her back safe and sound. We have prepared a delivery room for the delivery of her baby and made other arrangements for care  of the baby. We need to be assured of our security as professionals and  I’m willing to get to the highest authority over this.”

She observed it was the first time a member of MWAN would be abducted and described the development  more as a hazard of living in Nigeria than a hazard of being a medical professional. “The woman’s  three little children,  husband, parents, other  relations and colleagues are serious worried about her. We are all grieving,” she lamented.

In the view of spokesperson of the Enugu state NMA, Dr. Cyril Chukwudi “Pregnant women are handled with care in our environment therefore, this form of criminality is widely viewed as alien to the African culture.”

He regretted the inability of the Police to secure the woman’s release in time,  raising questions  about competence and complicity. Chukwudi said it was such an attitude that inadvertently contributed towards the already bad indices of maternal and child health.

But the kidnap of medical doctors is not an entirely new development. VF discovered it is indeed a growing public health and national crisis.

Findings are that the  Federal government has been under constant pressure to tackle the spate of kidnaps especially  in the South East part of the country. Statistics from the Nigerian Medical association (NMA),reveal that more than 20 doctors have been kidnapped in Abia State alone in the past one year. Several other medical personnel have been terrorised.

Only last Decenber, 2011, a doctor’s wife was also kidnapped for ransome by unknown assailants. Considering the poor state of the country’s health institutions, observers say the sooner the trend is nipped in the bud, the better for Nigeria and Nigerians as a whole.

Already, troubles confronting the health care delivery in Nigeria are legion. With one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world, coupled with one of the lowest life expectancy rates, a doctor-patient ratio of more than 4,000, the very fabric of existence of the Nigerian is constantly under threat.

With very few health institutions able to boast of a robust health care delivery, the continued abduction and terrorising of medical personnel would only worsen the existing erosion of confidence in the health sector.