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Rising
Cases of Kidnapping Hamper Smooth Electoral Process In Akwa Ibom
*****Nigerian Medical Association
Cries Out
Worried by the spate of
seeming political assassinations and kidnappings prevalent in Akwa
Ibom State, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA, has cried out
that the state is no longer safe for medical doctors and other
targeted citizens as the security arrangement against kidnapping is
very weak.
AkanimoReports says the
state branch of the NMA was reacting to the latest abduction of Dr.
Memfin Ekpo, by a gang of sophisticatedly armed kidnappers on the
sprawl in the state. Dr. Ekpo, a Consultant Pathologist with the
University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, is the husband of Prof. Comfort
Ekpo, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Uyo (UNIUYO). He was
abducted at a church service in Uyo, the state capital, the previous
Sunday.
Branch Chairman of the NMA,
Dr. Enobong Etukumana, said the association has since met on the
incident, and is of the view that the security situation in Akwa
Ibom is unsatisfactory. ''The NMA is of the view that the security
situation in Akwa Ibom is unsatisfactory especially as it affects
kidnapping for ransom'', Dr. Etukumana said, as the association
called on the state government and the security agencies to rise to
the occasion.
Medical doctors in the
state have already withdrawn their services to the public in protest
against the abduction of Dr. Ekpo. The association said it is no
longer comfortable with the incessant abduction of its members for
ransom. Continuing, the association said so far, two of its members
have been assassinated with the most recent being the assassination
of Dr. Joseph Anthony Akpanakpudo.
In the mean time, a cleric,
David Thompson, is blaming Christian leaders in the state for
fuelling the current security problems in the state. Thompson, who
is the General Overseer of Kingdom of God Missions International,
said most politicians are carried away by the praises showered on
them by clerics. ''I am disturbed by the wonton praise singing and
sycophancy going on by some clerymen in the state. Such is
misleading God's people toward the wrong direction'', he said,
pointing out that it was wrong for any human being to take the life
of his/her fellow human.
The cleric in very strong
terms condemned a situation where supposed Christians engage in
fetish practices and bloodshed in the name of politics, warning that
if the ugly trend continues, the future would be bleak for Akwa Ibom.
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