The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), National Orthopedic Hospital Igbobi has joined the nationwide solidarity march of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) over the prolonged captivity of one of its members, Dr Popoola Ganiyat.
The doctors during the walk on Tuesday in Lagos, urged the Federal Government to intensify efforts toward her safe release.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the doctors are seen displaying placards with different inscriptions, demanding the immediate release of Ganiyat, a Registrar in the Department of Opthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna.
According to the medical practitioners, Ganiyat was abducted on December 26, 2023, alongside her husband and nephew. The President of ARD, Dr Edeh Ernest, expressed displeasure with the association over the sad development. He appealed to the Federal Government and security agencies for urgent action to ensure their immediate release.
Ernest decried that the doctor had been in the hands of her abductors for more than seven months.
“This walk represents more than just a physical journey; it symbolises our unwavering commitment to justice, to the protection of our community, and to the values that Ganiyat stood for.
“We have walked in solidarity today to remind the government that an injury to one is an injury to all.
“Therefore, we demand for government’s intervention to ensure her immediate release.
“We also plead to security agencies to step up their search and ensure that Ganiyat is granted freedom,” Ernest said.
The ARD president recalled that NARD had made a series of efforts to facilitate the release of the abducted doctor and threatened to embark on industrial action from August 26, if Ganiyat was not released.
Ernest, therefore, stated that failure to rescue the doctor would not guarantee industrial harmony, saying that ARD would not hesitate to join the industrial action.
The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Mustapha Alimi, while addressing the doctors during the walk, said the hospital as a whole was displeased with the sad news of the missing doctor.
Represented by Dr Lawal Wakeel, the Head of Clinical Services, Alimi expressed optimism that Ganiyat would be released alive and strong.
“The hospital management is in full support of the solidarity walk and sympathises with all doctors in Nigeria at and hoped that the government will do the needful for her immediate release.”
