Medical doctors under the auspices of Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, Lagos State Chapter yesterday raised alarm over alleged frequent harassment of medical doctors by Policemen.
Expressing their grievances in Lagos, the Association’s Chairman, Dr. Adeyeye Arigbabuwo said that the recent incident involving one of their colleagues, Dr. Olafisoye Odunayo of Awoyaya, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos has left them with no alternative than to draw the attention of the public and relevant agencies to the incessant arrest of doctors for carrying out their legitimate duties.
Arigbabuwo explained that one of their colleagues who operated on a female patient with Pre-Eclampsia, in December, last year, but lost the patient after surgery following complications of surgery was treated like common criminal in the area where his practice is located and in the full glare of his patents.
“Following the death of one Mrs. Juliet Williams, the relations felt aggrieved and reported the case to the Police who came to arrest Dr. Odunayo. The doctor spent about two weeks in detention and was eventually released on bail with the condition to report periodically to the Elemoro Police Station.
“Barely three weeks after the bail, he was rearrested by another set of Police officers purported to be from Abuja on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police. What we found vexatious and demeaning of the arrest was the method employed in arresting him; he was handcuffed in the full glare of his patients as if he were a common criminal.”
The association demanded for unconditional and immediate release of Dr. Olafisoye, and any other doctor that may be in the custody of the Police in similar manner in Lagos State and across the country.
