Benue nurses worry over abduction of members

Nurses and midwives in Benue state are worried over killing and abduction of members by criminal elements at different locations across the state.

The chairman of Nurses and Midwives in the state, Comrade Esther Akpai, on Monday told newsmen in Makurdi that their lives are under threat following the abduction of four members and killing of one other recently.

Akpai said the insecurity in the state had become a serious challenge for nurses on duties as criminals even now are trailing members for possible abduction.

She added that the security challenge was responsible for the shutdown of the General hospital in troubled Katsina-Ala area of the state occasioned by the advice of the union.

The chairman explained that last year, two nurses working at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Makurdi were abducted while another two were also kidnapped in Katsina-Ala, bringing the number to four.

Akpai further said that one health worker was killed during the crisis in Katsina-Ala and so the union had to advised the Health Management Board to close down the state’s General Hospital as she stressed that the criminals are still running after nurses in Kastina-Ala town which had been placed under curfew by the state government for nearly three weeks now.