The Association of Resident Doctors at the National Orthopedic Hospital Igbobi has joined the nationwide solidarity march of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors over the prolonged captivity of one of its members, Ganiyat Popoola.

During the walk on Tuesday in Lagos, the doctors urged the federal government to intensify efforts toward her safe release.

The doctors displayed 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 ARD president, Edeh Ernest, expressed displeasure with the association over the sad development. He appealed to the government and security agencies for urgent action to ensure their immediate release.

Mr 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 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,” Mr 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 Ms Popoola was not released.

Mr 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.

While addressing the doctors during the walk, the hospital’s medical director, Mustapha Alimi, said the hospital as a whole was displeased with the sad news of the missing doctor.

“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,” said Mr Alimi.

(NAN)