Delta: ANPMP Urges FG, Police To Investigate Doctor's Murder

The Association of Nigerian Private Medical Practitioners (ANPMP) has appealed to the Federal Government to prevail on the Nigeria Police to prioritise investigations into the murder of their colleague, Dr Uyi Iluobe.

Dr Kayode Adesola, the ANPMP National President, made the appeal in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

ANPMP is the umbrella organisation for all medical and dental doctors in private practice, either as owners or employees in the country.

Adesola said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, must take the murder case of Iluobe as a priority, which must be solved by his best investigators within the shortest time.

“We wish to state that nothing short of a very thorough, yet swift investigation, arrest and timely prosecution of the assassins will be acceptable.

“No stone must be left unturned to unravel the mysteries surrounding this dastardly act.

“The conclusion that Iluobe was murdered by cultists is akin to the abnormal ready-made lazy excuses, usually heard from our police officers.

“Murders in the South-East are tied routinely round the necks of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) or the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or Unknown Gunmen.

“In the North-West, bandits, and North-East, Boko Haram,” he said.

Adesola stated that as of the time of the “cultists’” conclusion, staff or witnesses of the attack, or the wife of the deceased, were yet to be interrogated.

“No attention was given yet to the issue of the threat by a known patient, who, a few weeks earlier at discharge, had promised he would come back to deal with the late doctor,” he said.

According to him, security around all public and private health facilities operating in the country must be taken seriously.

“The lives of Nigerian doctors matter; the lives of all health workers matter.

“The lives of Nigerian doctors matter; the lives of all health workers matter.

“Many of our colleagues that recently left the shores of this country did so, not only because of better pay but also for the near hopelessness of the security system.

“Security issues must be rejigged as a priority,” he said.

However, Adesola lauded the Delta Police Command for its response and arrest of some people described as cultists, whom the police alleged to be the perpetrators of the mindless evil.

Similarly, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, the Chairman of Nigeria Medical Association, Lagos State, appealed to the IGP to ensure that the murderers of Iluobe were brought to quick justice.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) had previously reported that Dr Iluobe was murdered by relatives of a patient on December 31, 2022, at Olive Hospital, Oghara, Delta State.

However, the spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe,  debunked the rumour saying the medical doctor was killed by cultists and not the patient's relatives.