Doctors protest kidnap of 65-year-old woman in Ondo

The abduction of a 65-year-old housewife, Juliana Ogunleye from her residence in Akure, the Ondo State capital by three armed bandits has sparked off protest from members the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the State.

The association has therefore given the state government 48 hours to secure the release of the woman, who is the wife of a Saudi-based Gynecologist, Idowu Ogunleye.

Mrs. Ogunleye was playing with her grandchildren at her No 2, Ogunleye Street, Ijoka-Akure when she was abducted at about 7pm last month.

The three armed men, it was learnt, came to the house on the pretext that they had come to deliver a message to the victim. The woman was the only person kidnapped by the suspected gunmen, who met six people in the house while carrying out the dastardly act.Her husband, Idowu Ogunleye is at present outside the country.

A source close to the family said the abductors had earlier placed a N100 million ransom on the woman before reducing it to N50 million.

The family has however told the kidnappers that they could not afford such huge amount, noting that the woman who was neither a political office holder nor any of her siblings had been taken away since November 25.

The Nigeria Medical Association has therefore sent a Save Our Soul letter to the state governor,Olusegun Mimiko.

The association, in the letter signed by Adetan Oluwatoyin and I. J Adebose, chairman and the secretary respectively, said that the latest case was the second involving wives of senior medical practitioners in the state by criminals intent on extorting money.

Unhappy doctors

They stated that the kidnap of doctors and their relatives was a strange thing in the state.“Your Excellency, we need to emphasize that as the Chief Security Officer of this state, our lives and property are in your hand. When it concerned the politicians, the government was there, for journalists, the whole nation was involved and now that it involves doctors’ relatives, we do not expect anything less”, the NMA said.

The NMA therefore called on the government and security agencies to act fast in order to secure the release of the abducted Mrs Ogunleye, whose abductors have now reduced the ransome to N30 million.

Source:/234next