The kidnappers of a medical practitioner with the Cross River College of Education Medical Centre, Akamkpa, Cross River State, Dr Usang Ekanem, have released him.
Ekanem was abducted on December 26, 2017 by some gunmen.
The state chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Effiong Mkpanam, made this known in Calabar.
He said Ekanem was released in the early hours of Sunday in Akamkpa.
According to him, Ekanem had reunited with his family.
His words: “As we speak right now, our colleague has been released; it is breaking news to us. I have seen him and the wife and we bless God that he has re-united with his family.
“At the moment, he is highly traumatised, but we are grateful to God for his safe release.’’
His release came a day before the day doctors in the state said they would down tool in protest over his kidnap.
Speaking with journalists on Friday, Mkpanam, said doctors had suffered series of abduction from kidnappers and could no longer take it.
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According to him, while they as professionals worked to save lives, nobody seemed to care about their security.
Mkpanam said since Ekanem was kidnapped, the state government and security agencies had not done enough to rescue him.
His words: “As we address you today, it is with grief that we make public the fact that a very senior medical practitioner and one time chairman of NMA has been in the kidnappers’ den for ten days and counting.
“As doctors, we swore an oath to save lives of members of the public who are in need of our skills.
“We have observed with dismay a dangerous trend in which the security and lives of the same doctor are being threatened by some disgruntled members of the society.”
