The Akwa Ibom State Government has declared two medical doctors wanted after the two allegedly abdicated their duty posts at the state’s Ministry of Health.
Ekem John, the state’s commissioner for health, who disclosed this to journalists in Uyo on Monday, said the Akwa Ibom State Government had trained the two doctors for eight years.
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Mr John gave the doctors’ names as Uduakabasi Ita, a consultant radiologist, and Mfonobong George Bassey, a consultant haematologist. He said the doctors have the option of returning to their duty posts or refunding the money the government spent on training them.
“We will track them until we find them. Any country they go to, we will go to the medical and dental council of that country, and we will stop them (from practising).
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“It is in their best interest for them to immediately report to the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Health,” Mr John said.
The commissioner said he would not be held for whatever becomes of their fate once the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The council regulates medical and dental practice, and can prevent a doctor from practising by withdrawing his licence.
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“Now that they have not been invited (by the council), we ask that their family reach out to them to immediately report to the Ministry of Health,” the commissioner said, adding that henceforth, all medical officers trained by the state government must serve out the agreed number of years in the state before they would be allowed to resign.
Nigeria faces an acute shortage of doctors and other health workers, as many of them prefer to work abroad for better pay and living conditions.
In many states in Nigeria, the few doctors in government hospitals also own and run private medical facilities.
Akwa Ibom was in the spotlight recently when a mother and her newborn died after a caesarean birth at a government hospital in the oil-rich state. The victim’s relatives accused hospital workers, including doctors, of negligence.
A panel set up by the state government to investigate the incident submitted its report a few days ago.
