Doctors in Imo State have declared a three-day closure of all public and
private hospitals in the state to protest their ill-treatment by the
police and the Rochas Okorocha administration.
Last week, the doctors
and the police clashed in Owerri, the state capital, during a protest
against the management of public hospitals and poor treatment of health
workers by the state government. During the incident, some doctors were
reported shot by the police.
The directive to shut down all the
hospitals in Imo was given on Tuesday by the state chapter of the
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
The association said that the
closure of the hospitals was to express their grievances against the
action of the police and the concessioning of public hospitals by
Okorocha.
In a press statement issued by NMA Chairman, Dr
Hyacinth Emele and Secretary, Kyrian Duruewuru, the association
condemned the action of the police, insisting that the police acted the
script of some government officials by shooting its members on a
peaceful protest.
Emele said that contrary to the police claim that
NMA never obtained permission for the protest, it was monitored by the
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Bisong and Divisional Police Officer
(DPO) of New Owerri, Eric Uchegbu, who came with six vans loaded with
armed policemen, escorting the protesters.
He noted that the
police vans which have been escorting them, at the Ware House
roundabout, turned against the doctors, diverting them to end their
protest at the Freedom Square and not the Government House as contained
in their permit.
At that point, Emele said the police, who were
hitherto friendly, threw teargas at them and shot some of his members
with live bullets.
The NMA said it was shocked by the utterances of
the Commissioner for Health, Ngozi Njoku, who it said was rejected by
the association because she was not a member of the profession.
www.thebreakingtimes.com/police-brutality-doctors-shut-down-all-hospitals-in-imo-state/
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