•Strategic value of having medical expertise on hand, fuelling it -Babalola
•Kidnappers often believe doctors have fat bank accounts, says Ezeibe
•Okhuaihesuyi: “It’s discouraging and inimical to stemming the brain drain”

The health sector is today grappling with a surge in insecurity due to kidnapping of medical doctors in recent times. They are increasingly becoming endangered species with many of them fearing for their lives. Isioma Madike, in this report, looks at why kidnappers target medical personnel from the eyes of the doctors

Nigerian medical doctors are increasingly worried over what they called the deteriorating state of their mental health due to sustained threats to their lives. They are concerned about the growing rate of abductions of their colleagues across the country.

Some of them, who spoke with this reporter, are worried that in spite of the numerous attacks on medical practitioners, the government seemed not to have done much to protect the profession and its personnel.

They are also worried that a number of their colleagues, who were unfortunately kidnapped, are still in captivity. This, they say, is happening at a time when the doctor-to-patient ratio in Nigeria is distressingly low with the mass exodus of health workers seeking greener pastures abroad worsening the already bad situation.

For emphasis, Dr Innocent Orji, who was quoted to have said that “Most of these kidnappings are actually spontaneous,” insisted that Nigeria was not a safe place for medics.

The president, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), was also quoted as saying that doctors are being “targeted” for kidnappings in Nigeria and have found themselves victims partly because bandits have the “impression” they are rich.

He was worried not only that about 32 medical doctors are currently being held in captivity by kidnappers but that there was no information about them, saying that “no one is certain whether they are dead or alive.”

He had said: “The hope of re-uniting them with their families is becoming dimmer daily. Medical doctors have been targeted by kidnappers across the country for ransom and posterity will not be fair to us if we fail to take any action to ensure their release.”

Of particular concern is the case of Dr Ganiyat Popoola, who was abducted, and has remained in captivity nine months after. Dr Popoola, a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre, Kaduna State, was abducted alongside her husband on December 27, 2023.

While her husband was released in March, Popoola and her nephew remain in the custody of the kidnappers, a situation that has sparked widespread concern and outrage within the health sector in the country.

Doctors’ concern about Dr Popoola and other colleagues’ plight culminated in spontaneous strike protests in Kaduna, Kwara and Osun states.

Other state chapters of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have also threatened at one time or the other to follow suit if nothing is done urgently to stem this ugly tide.

For Prof. Olufemi Babalola, a former President, Guild of Medical Directors (GMD), the trend of kidnappers targeting medical doctors in Nigeria is concerning and multifaceted. Several factors, he said, might explain why this is happening more frequently in recent times.

According to him, the targeting of medical doctors by kidnappers in Nigeria seems to be driven by a combination of factors, including the perception of doctors as lucrative targets, the strategic value of having medical expertise on hand, and the relative vulnerability of these professionals due to insufficient protection.

This worrying trend, he said, underscores the broader security challenges in Nigeria and the urgent need for more effective measures to protect all citizens, particularly those providing essential services like healthcare.

He also said that addressing these issues requires a comprehensive approach that includes improving security, increasing the capacity of law enforcement, and addressing the socio-economic conditions that contribute to the rise in kidnapping and other forms of violent crime.

He said: “Others are at lower risk of armed attack. Doctors are generally not heavily guarded compared to other wealthy individuals like business tycoons or politicians. This makes them easier targets for kidnappers who want to minimise the risk of encountering armed resistance.

“There is also the demand for medical attention for the criminals. In some cases, kidnappers may target doctors to provide medical care for injured gang members.

“The rough nature of their activities often leads to injuries, and having a doctor in their custody ensures immediate medical attention without the need to risk exposure by going to a hospital.”

He added: “Kidnapping doctors can have a broader impact by disrupting essential health services. This might be particularly relevant in conflict or crisis regions, where attacking or abducting healthcare workers can create fear and further destabilise communities.

“High-profile victims; doctors, especially those with significant reputations or ties to the community, can attract more attention from the media and authorities. Kidnappers might use this to exert more pressure during ransom negotiations or to make broader political statements.

“Lack of protection and security and vulnerability are factors too. In many parts of Nigeria, security infrastructure is weak, and medical professionals often work in relatively isolated environments, such as rural clinics or during late-night shifts in urban areas. This lack of protection makes them easy targets.

“Again, the police and security forces may not be able to provide adequate protection or a rapid response in the event of a kidnapping. This emboldens criminals who feel they can operate with impunity.

“While specific statistics on the kidnapping of doctors in Nigeria might be sparse, reports from local media and professional bodies suggest that the trend is growing.

“The NMA and other organisations have raised the alarm about the increasing targeting of their members. This trend is part of a broader increase in kidnapping across Nigeria, driven by economic factors, unemployment, and the activities of organised criminal networks.”

Similarly, Maduike Ezeibe, professor of Veterinary Medicine and Clinical Virology at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, said it is unfortunate that kidnappers are now targeting medical doctors.

“It does not make sense to say that they do so because they want the doctors to treat them. They are looking for money. They believe that doctors have money.

“Medicine is still the number one course in Nigeria; most young ones prefer studying Medicine to any other course because no matter what happens, a doctor will find something to do for a living on graduation.

“So, the kidnappers are going after them believing that they have fat bank accounts they would empty before releasing them. But should doctors regret being brilliant to have studied a course many people wanted to study but could not? May God continue to protect them and other Nigerians,” he prayed.

A former President of Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, agreed that the cases of Kidnapping of doctors are gradually becoming a pandemic.

Okhuaihesuyi, quoting the BBC, said they termed it a low-risk high-reward venture and it crept in recently as a business venture but has metamorphosed into a very lucrative business owing to desperation to avoid the current economic woes.

He said: “As to why doctors are the top target can be divided into two. Firstly, there is an erroneous belief that doctors are well paid owing to the advent of social media and a lot of people see doctors abroad as high earners thus making them easy targets.

“Secondly, there is a rising increase in kidnappings and people have posited that it may be that they need some form of healthcare delivery to the injured among the kidnapped and also the injured among the kidnappers themselves. In these rising concerns, it’s also a belief that some of these are merely random and upon questioning, it turns out they are doctors.

“Nonetheless, the spate of kidnap is alarming, discouraging and inimical to stemming the brain drain we have. These doctors upon release have a lot of post-traumatic pathologies that push people to leave a country that doesn’t care about their well-being.

“We therefore plead with the government at different tiers to clamp down on this worrisome trend and raise this as a pandemic as it might soon become the numero uno reason for brain drain.”

Dr Oladoyin Odubanjo, Executive Secretary of The Nigerian Academy of Science and a past Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Association of Public Health Physicians of the Nigeria, says it’s a known phenomenon that criminal groups tend to need discrete healthcare as they can’t access hospitals publicly as we all do.

“Hence, they may have healthcare professionals, who willingly treat them in secret or they forcefully (even by kidnapping them) get them to treat them. Those who have also survived kidnapping have come out to confirm that they had to treat the criminals and their victims in captivity.

“The healthcare professional may be kidnapped for ransom initially but stands the risk of not being released quickly when they discover his/her profession.

“They may also be targeted primarily for their profession and the services they can render to their kidnappers. The government needs to keep an eye on preventing attacks on healthcare facilities,” he added.

A Consultant Physician/Pulmonologist, DELSUTH, Oghara, Delta State, Dr Ariyo Yewande, in her reaction calls kidnapping a serious security problem in Nigeria at present even as she says it’s scary to all citizens.

She also said it could be as a result of the fact that they need somebody, a professional to manage them; that’s the kidnappers and the victims that are not doctors that are in the kidnappers den. Some of them fall sick because of the harsh weather that they are exposed to, Dr Yewande said.

She added: “Some stories of kidnapped victims, one will see that they are kept under rain and sunshine for days unending. Sometimes they are starved and they experience really critical situations that are life-threatening, such that if they have a medical professional on ground, he or she can help in saving the victims.

“That is keeping the victims alive for the kidnappers so that the kidnappers themselves can get the gain they are looking for from their endeavour, the kidnapping. This is because if their victim dies, they may not be able to receive the ransom or fulfill their own part of the bargain after collecting the ransom.

“So, looking at it from that point of view, one would say that medical doctors are prized by them. That may be one of the reasons why doctors are being kidnapped and targeted recently.

“It could also go beyond that. It could be that they see doctors as a lucrative opportunity. That’s looking at medical doctors; most people assume that they are earning a lot, despite the fact that over and over again, they have made it clear that the remuneration for doctors is poor.

“But most people, when they see a doctor, will probably not believe and so you would think that kidnapping a doctor will really give a huge ransom.

“But you know, that is in their own mind. Most doctors cannot afford the amount of money that the kidnappers are asking. When they tell you, go and bring $10,000, go and bring $2,000, even sometimes $1,000.

“A doctor may not have seen that. Because by the time you collect your salary, you have dependents, you have people, and you have bills to pay. And you still have to go to work. With the recent hike in fuel prices and cost of living, by the end of the month, you may not even be able to continue paying your bills.

“You’ll probably owe. So, then a kidnapper will now kidnap the doctor and expect the doctor to be able to raise thousands of dollars, or millions of naira. I think that it’s a view, thinking that the doctor is rich. But no, doctors are not in that category of millionaires.

“But you know that’s the view of society. Then also, it could be that you’re able to target them because they have businesses that open up to all kinds of people. They meet all kinds of people that come to their businesses, including potential kidnappers, who may have come for medical services in their hospitals.

“And then when you come, you see a well-arranged establishment in your mind, you say, you can really make that happen.

“So, with that illusion that a doctor is rich, you go to a hospital, you see a well-established hospital and you think that, oh, for this to be happening, you know, you calculate, the kidnapper will calculate how much he or she can make from it and then the exposure of the doctor.

“What I mean is that the doctor opens up his facility to different kinds of people who meet him or her daily. Some of them are potential kidnappers.

“The doctor will not know because the training makes you want to give your best to all human beings. A doctor is trained to save lives. You are not likely going to be suspicious because you know, this kidnapping thing, like you said, is a recent event.

“You would expect that a doctor will not be a target. As a doctor, you are happy to flash your ID card because you feel that people will respect you for the service you are rendering to humanity,” she said.

Yewande added: “Doctors used to be really valued in the society. Hospitals usually are like sacred houses where nobody will go to go and kidnap. So, I would also say that apart from just looking at doctors like that, it may also be because of the decadence in morality.

“Decadence in morality so that the people you expect that are supposed to be respected for the work that they are doing are not being respected again.

“If you are hiding from the police, you can hide inside the hospital. Or if you are hiding from armed robbers, you can hide inside the hospital. You would expect that nobody would come looking for you there.

“But because of the openness, the open-door philosophy, after all, if somebody is sick now, will you start asking, is he a kidnapper? How will you know?

“Most of these people are strangers that come to your facility. And then you manage them. And when you are managing them, some of them are sizing you up, trying to look at you as a potential for making money.

“All you are concerned about is trying to give your best. The doctor tries to dress nicely. He tries to drive a good car though. And then maybe the patient is admitted to your facility. The patient spends weeks.

“By the time the patient is going, you bill the patient. By the time you bill, oh, in their mind, they say, ‘if I can pay N500,000, then this doctor must be making a lot of money’. They will forget that the facility was opened on loan, which you have to pay.”