The gunmen who kidnapped a medical doctor with Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra state, Dr Cornelius Onuigbo, are demanding a ransom of N10 million.
SaharaReporters reported earlier on Wednesday that Dr Onuigbo, a neurologist, was abducted on Tuesday night in front of his house while returning from the hospital.
Sources told SaharaReporters on Wednesday that a manhunt had been launched to rescue him.
However, a close friend of Dr. Onuigbo, who spoke to SaharaReporters on Wednesday evening, said the kidnappers initially demanded a ransom of N50 million but have since reduced their demand to N10 million after negotiations.
According to the source, the family are pleading with the kidnappers to reduce the ransom further, as they are struggling to come up with the ransom.
“They initially demanded N50 million but negotiations have been going on. I learned now that they have come down to N10 million and we still hope that they will still come down because the money is not there. We are begging them while at the same time reaching out to friends to see how we can get him out,” the source said.
The Anambra State Branch Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Chukwuemeka Princeton Okam, who also spoke to SaharaReporters, expressed concerns that medical doctors are being targeted for abduction in the state.
He noted that many doctors have received threat calls, leaving them feeling endangered.
“He was kidnapped in front of his gate at Uruagu village of Nnewi along Nnewi-Orba Road. He was coming back from the hospital and he was trying to enter his house through his gate. Then they (gunmen) double-crossed him and picked him up,” he explained.
When asked whether the gunmen have established any contact, he said yes.
“I don’t know whether they want doctors to run away from this country. From kidnapping to threat calls. Many of our members have been receiving threat calls from these elements. We are really endangered in the state (Anambra State)”.
He, however, expressed hope that security will be tightened in the state.
He said, “Hopefully, let’s hope that there will be renewed efforts of the state government on the kidnap issue so that we will have succour coming our way and the way of our Anambrians. Unless they know him before otherwise most often, they pick at random.
“Nobody is safe actually. These people might have known him, they might have been targeting him or it may just be a coincidence. I don’t know and nobody knows but I am sure they know he is a doctor.”
The kidnapping of Dr. Onuigbo marks the latest in a string of abductions targeting medical professionals in Anambra State.
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