RECENTLY, Nigerians were left astounded by the story of the alleged kidnapping and assault of a medical practitioner, Dr Ofodile Ekweogwu, by men of the Anambra State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) following his insistence on being paid his professional fees after attending to a policeman attached to the Nigerian Police Area Command, Nnewi. Following the incident, the Anambra branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) convened an emergency state executive council meeting, followed by a press briefing during which it called for the arrest of the offending policeman and his colleagues, threatening to close down hospitals in the area if the issue was not addressed within 72 hours.

Giving a breakdown of the incident, the NMA said: “Our colleague, Dr. Ofodile Ekweogwu, a consultant neurosurgeon, managed a patient in a private facility in Nnewi. The patient, Corporal Okona Stephen Ifeanyi of Nigerian Police Area Command, Nnewi, was involved in a road traffic accident and sustained head injury in January 2024. He was referred to Eastern Specialist Hospital, Nnewi after some days at another hospital where he was taken to after the accident due to persistent loss of consciousness. Dr Ekweogwu was invited and he gave neurosurgery care to Corporal Okona, who fully recovered and was eventually discharged. His medical bill was clearly itemised and given to him. He requested for a rebate and it was given to him. He absconded from the hospital by scaling the perimeter fence but later returned, paid part of the bills but was allowed home on self recognition to complete the balance afterwards.

“Corporal Okona, rather than pay the balance, resorted to using intimidation to escape his debt. Firstly, he came with armed policemen to the consulting room of Dr Ekweogwu in February 2024 to summon him, without an official invitation, to Nnewi Area Command. The Area Commander, on learning about the case, admonished Corporal Okona and asked him to pay his outstanding bills for medical services given to him. Still not satisfied, on Saturday 16^th March 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 Police 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 was without any prior invitation. He was able to place a call to his wife to alert her of his situation before his phone was taken from him and switched off.

“Dr Ekweogwu identified one of the occupants of the vehicle as the Corporal Okona he had treated. 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 (NAUTH), Nnewi chapter, who had arrived earlier, Dr Ekweogwu was made to write a statement in response to a petition he was shown there, after which they drove him down to Nnewi at night, to get evidence of the 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, Professor 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.”

In light of the seeming resolve by the police authorities to address the decades and deluge of complaints by Nigerians over police intimidation, harassment and torture through prompt arrest, orderly room trial and prosecution of offenders within the force, it is shocking that the police authorities have yet to respond meaningfully to this case. To say the least, this case has to do with alleged abuse of power in the most brazen fashion and should have been promptly addressed, if only to forestall an ugly scenario in which innocent people seeking care in hospitals would suffer untold consequences through no fault of theirs. It is hard to imagine that an officer of the law who received life-saving care in a hospital would engage in dirty tactics, including scaling the hospital fence, to avoid paying for the services rendered. It is even more egregious, assuming that the NMA’s allegations are correct, that the culprit not only flouted the order of a very superior officer to pay up his medical bills but also resorted to abducting, harassing and intimidating the doctor whose fees he ought to have then paid with profuse apologies. By the way, in which kind of country does a security operative abduct a doctor instead of paying him for the services rendered?

Absconding from hospital after receiving care is a crime. Using ‘uniform power’ to abduct a man you owe and thus hindering his ability to treat those who are willing to pay for his services is even more criminal. That is why the police authorities must take this case very seriously. It calls up images of fraud and furnishes the essential ingredients of brigandage. It is inconceivable that a medical doctor hearing the Ekweogwu story would be favourably disposed to treating any security operative, knowing that he could be set-up and slammed with a criminal charge for demanding his professional fees. The incident casts the police in such a bad light that only a prompt investigation and prosecution of the case can restore its dignity. Unless the NMA’s account is in dispute, the alleged actions by Corporal Okona and his accomplices are a criminal assault on the police uniform and indeed the integrity of the Nigerian State. They undermine the labours of the decent officers and men of the force who work day and night to save the country from criminals and have not even received commensurate rewards for their patriotism, diligence and discipline. It is so painful that such law-abiding people risk being seen by members of the public as criminals.

The foregoing notwithstanding, we urge Dr Ekweogwu and his colleagues to explore the option of legal redress rather downing tools in this case and others like it. That way, justice can be pursued while innocent people continue to receive the care they desperately need. (Sunday PUNCH)

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