Nurses give Kaduna govt 48hrs to rescue kidnapped colleagues

Nurses have staged a peaceful protest in Kaduna State over the abduction of two female colleagues from the General Hospital in Idon, Kajuru Local Council, giving the state government 48 hours to rescue them.

The incident happened less than 24 hours after the abduction of students at Greenfield University, Kaduna.

The protesters stormed the Ministry of Health to register their anger over insecurity of health facilities and workers in the state.

According to the chairman of National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) Kaduna chapter, Mr. Ishaku Yakubu, the lack of effective fencing and security of most health facilities was responsible for the abduction of their members.

While addressing the ministry and health workers, Yakubu lamented that five of their members had been kidnapped, while over 100 were earlier affected by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in the state.

He also called on the state government to ensure that the victims were released between 48 to 78 hours unhurt, adding that anything short of that would leave them with no option than to withdraw their services, as they were not ready to pay any ransom.

The chairman told journalists that their the members fled hospitals in rural areas because of insecurity.

He said the bandits purposely came for their members as “they were said to have called repeatedly, at the entry point and looked out for people in white uniform only.”