The Coordinating Minister of Well being and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, has petitioned the Nationwide Safety Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Inspector-Common of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to rescue Kaduna-based Dr Ganiyat Popoola, who was kidnapped final December and has been within the abductors’ den for almost eight months.
Popoola, a registrar within the Division of Ophthalmology on the Nationwide Eye Centre, Kaduna State, was kidnapped on December 27, 2023, alongside together with her husband, Nurudeen Popool, who’s a Squadron chief, and her nephew, Folaranmi Abdul-Mugniy, who stays with them.
After a number of negotiations with the abductors, the husband was launched on March 8, 2024, however the physician and Abdul-Mugniy weren’t launched.
It was additionally gathered that because the incident, the abductors had known as severally at will and sometimes to permit some members of the family to talk with the captives, and so they have been spoken to final on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, to show that the physician and the nephew have been nonetheless alive.
The Nigerian Affiliation of Resident Docs has repeatedly clamoured for P opoola’s launch, with chapters of the affiliation holding peaceable protests throughout completely different states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Monday.
The NARD threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if Popoola was not launched by August 26.
In a letter dated August 12, the well being minister, Pate, sought the intervention of the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; and the IG, Kayode Egbetokun, to rescue the kidnapped medical physician.
The letter was titled ‘RE: Kidnap of Resident Physician on the Nationwide Eye Centre, Kaduna: A necessity for pressing intervention to avert industrial disharmony’.
The minister stated, “The Federal Ministry of Well being and Social Welfare is in receipt of a letter from the Nigerian Affiliation of Resident Docs Ref.no.NARD/SG/2023-2024/290724/788, dated twenty ninth July 2024 (copy connected) on the above topic.
“Within the letter below reference, the affiliation knowledgeable of the kidnapping of certainly one of their members, Dr. Ganiyat Olawole Popoola, a Senior Registrar within the Division of Ophthalmology on the Nationwide Eye Care Centre, Kaduna and her nephew over seven months in the past (December, 2023) and the victims have remained within the custody of the abductors to this point.
“In view of the above, the ministry is requesting your pressing intervention not solely to save lots of the lives of the kidnapped victims but in addition to avert industrial disharmony within the well being sector.
“Whereas anticipating your immediate motion, please settle for the nice and cozy regards of the Coordinating Minister of Well being and Social Welfare.”
