Resident doctors protest killing of colleague by gunmen in Edo

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) chapter, on Tuesday staged a protest over the alleged killing of a doctor.

Otote Osaikhuomwan was reportedly killed in the early hours of Monday in the presence of his pregnant wife.

The killers were said to have shot him in the chest before making away with some items from his apartment.

The doctors blamed Osaikhuomwan’s murder on insecurity in the state, calling on the federal and state governments to take stringent measures to deal with the menace.

Elamah Ikpemimoghena, president of the association, said: “This is a very unfortunate incident. It came to us as a rude shock and it boils down to the general insecurity in the state and country at large.

“Something that we have always complained about, something that has made a lot of our colleagues reconsider their stance in working in Nigeria.

“Insecurity is gaining a very scary trend and that has led to a lot of brain drain, a lot of our members have left the country just because of insecurity.

“We call on the relevant authorities to ensure that they bring the perpetrators to book and give justice to our friend, our brother, a hardworking, calm fellow.

“Somebody that we know cannot hurt a fly, we don’t know why this happened to him but we hope that God will grant his family, the department, and everyone here in UBTH and NARD the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”

Bello Kontongs, Edo state police spokesman, confirmed the killing to journalists.

Kontongs said the police division where the incident happened had commenced a preliminary investigation and would transfer the findings to the state command.