Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in Delta state has expressed dismay over Nigeria Police Force (NPF) preliminary investigation into the murder of a medical doctor, Dr. Uyi Iluobe.
The victim was shot dead in a hospital in the state.
The police said the death was as a result of cult-related matter in the course of its investigation to unravel the murder.
While confirming the incident, police public relations officer, Bright Edafe, said the crime was committed by cultists and not the patient’s relatives.
Edafe said, “Alleged murder of a medical doctor in Oghara. The rumour making rounds that he was murdered by the family of a patient who died in the hospital is false, please. There is no record of any patient death in the hospital.”
The NMA vice chairman in the state, Okwwuze Anthony, who briefed journalists in Asaba yesterday, called on the inspector-general of police to double their investigation thoroughly to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime to book so as to assuage the pain of the family and the NMA.
As he called on well-meaning Nigerians to condemn the gruesome murder of the medical doctor, Anthony charged state government to do everything possible to assist the family of the deceased and the medical community to get justice on the matter.
The NMA chief said it was worrisome that the police authorities in Oghara where the killing took place have not taken statements from the nurses at the scene of the crime, despite that the fact that there have been cases of threat to life by some youths in the community.
Anthony said, “He was killed by aggrieved relatives of a patient who died from a gunshot wound in the hospital who shot him twice in the chest and left with the lady who purportedly presented herself with severe abdominal pains in a black Toyota saloon car with tinted windows.
“Prior to this incident, we gathered from the wife of the deceased that the doctor has had a brawl with some patients’ relatives in times past due to their unwillingness to pay accrued bill from services rendered by the doctor.
“Sometimes in October 2022, the deceased doctor treated a patient with gunshot wounds. Upon the discharge of the patient, he refused the accrued bill. The issue was reported to the police in Oghara; it was alleged that the police assisted the doctor to recover his money. It was also alleged that the said patient threatened to deal with the doctor,” he said.
Before now, the NMA president, Dr Uche Ojinmah said the association had taken violence against doctors and other healthcare workers from injuries to murder.
“It is unbelievable that in the face of a debilitating medical brain drain, the few doctors that patriotically decided to stay back and take care of our fellow citizens are being murdered by the same Nigerians.
“While we sympathise with the family of the patient that was lost, we strongly condemn this murder, a man should not be murdered for the selfless act of being on duty on New Year’s Eve.”
Iluobe was murdered at his privately-owned hospital (Olive Clinic) in Oghara-Eki on December 31, 2022.
