The Anambra State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association has demanded the arrest and prosecution of one Corporal Okona Ifeanyi of the Criminal Investigation Department, Nnewi, for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting one of its members, a consultant neurosurgeon, Dr Ofodile Ekweogwu.

The Anambra NMA made the demand in a statement dated March 17, 2024, and issued by the state chairman, Dr Ezeonu Jane of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Centre, Awka, after their emergency state executive council meeting held same day, in response to the incident.

The doctors narrated in the statement that Corporal Okona was admitted into a private medical facility in January 2024, to undergo treatment of a head injury he sustained after he was involved in a road accident.

The doctors revealed that after persistent loss of consciousness, the corporal was referred to the Eastern Specialist Hospital, Nnewi, where Dr Ekweogwu gave him neurosurgery care, after which the patient fully recovered and was eventually discharged.

They alleged that the officer absconded from the hospital by scaling perimeter fence after he was given his medical bill, but later returned to pay part of the bills and was allowed to go on self recognition to complete the balance later.

The doctors however alleged that the officer adopted intimidating tactic in order not to pay the remaining debt by coming with armed policemen in February 2024, to summon Dr Ekweogwu to the Area Command in Nnewi without an official invitation.

They added that the area commander admonished the corporal to pay his outstanding bills for the medical services rendered to him.

The statement added, “Still not satisfied, on Saturday March 16, 2024, in connivance with some policemen from Anambra SCID, they trailed Dr Ekweogwu as he was leaving his clinic in Nnewi in the afternoon, blocked him with a Toyota SUV (not an official/branded vehicle) with four armed men in mufti identifying themselves as policemen from SCID, grabbed him and whisked him away in the boot of the vehicle. This is without any prior invitation. He was able to place a call to his wife to alert her to his situation before his phone was taken from him and switched off.

“While in transit for over three hours driving around different parts of the state, Dr Ekweogwu was being threatened to “settle” with Corporal Okona before getting to their office, which he refused.

“Upon their arrival at SCID, in the presence of the chairman of the Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria, Nnewi chapter, who had arrived earlier, Dr Ekweogwu was made to write a statement in response to a document of petition he was shown there. After which they drove him to Nnewi at night, to get evidence of documentation of care he rendered to Corporal Okona.

“After unrestrained access to all they asked for at the hospital, they invited the MD of the hospital, Prof Evaristus Afiadigwe, to honour an appointment in the next three days at their office but insisted on going back to Awka with Dr Ekweogwu and detaining him there, refusing to release him on self recognition,” they further alleged.

The doctor was reluctantly released late into the night on the order of the state Commissioner of Police, who was eventually intimated of the incident by NMA leaders who came to the hospital to wade into the matter.

“Before leaving after releasing Dr Ekweogwu, Corporal Okona threatened Dr Ekweogwu verbally that he would use other means to get back at him, if the matter was not handled to his satisfaction by the police.

“The crime of Dr Ekweogwu was treating an injured patient who is a police officer, to full recovery, requesting payment for services rendered after giving a discount and allowing him go home even without full payment on self recognition. What a horrible way to reciprocate a kind gesture,” the association lamented.

In its resolution, the doctors condemned the officer and his colleagues for the “kidnap, torture, and attempted extortion, medical assault and threat to the life of our member.”

They therefore called for “the immediate arrest, suspension, speedy investigation, trial and appropriate sanctioning of the culprit and his collaborator policemen who carried out this dastardly act, who has brought grave disrepute to the image of the Nigeria Police Force.”