Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has expressed sadness over the gruesome murder in cold blood of one of her members, Dr. Chike Akunyili, the widower of Late Prof. Dora Akunyili, former Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah, NMA said while it awaits an official statement on investigations being conducted on the incident by relevant security agencies, the federal government should do everything possible to bring the culprits to justice.
It said the tragic incident occurred while the victim was on his way from the commemorative lecture in honour of his late wife, Dora.
“The death of this highly skilled professional at a time the country’s health care delivery system is bleeding due to the dearth of Medical Doctors and other health care workers as a result of the unprecedented brain drain currently facing the country is a cause for deep concern.
“This condemnable incidence at a moment when the country’s abysmally low Doctor: Patient ratio of 1: 6000 as against the WHO’s recommended 1: 600 is an indication of our misplaced value system as a people where human lives are not valued anymore,” it said.
The association frowned at what it described as the incessant loss of lives by Nigerians due to the worsening insecurity in various parts of the country.
It said the insecurity situation also has untoward effects on the health care delivery system.
“The death of Dr. Chike Akunyili is indeed one death too many and we therefore call on the Federal and State governments in Nigeria to live up to their core constitutional responsibilities of protecting the lives and properties of all Nigerians.
“We also urge the security agencies to do everything humanly possible to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to book to serve as a deterrent to others,” it said.
NMA prayed to God to grant the family and indeed all Nigerians the fortitude to bear this very painful and irreparable loss.
