A consultant neurosurgeon, Dr Tochukwu Mbanugo, with the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State, has been kidnapped by gunmen.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare confirmed and condemned the incident, describing it as deeply troubling and unacceptable.
In a statement by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, the government expressed deep concern over the incident.
Reports from NAUTH indicated that the doctor was attacked around Omatha Junction, Uruagu, Nnewi, after performing several complex neurosurgical operations.
The ministry revealed that before the kidnapping, he had carried out multiple critical procedures, including the removal of a complex brain tumour, saving several lives.
‘The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare expresses profound concern over the kidnapping of Dr Tochukwu Mbanugo.
‘His abduction occurred at the very point where he should have been safest — returning home from serving humanity’, the statement read.
The Ministry confirmed that the abductors later contacted some of Dr Mbanugo’s colleagues through his phone.
The matter has been reported to the Anambra State Police Command, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, and the State Vigilante Group.
The ministry stated that NAUTH management is collaborating with security agencies, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), and other stakeholders to ensure his safe return.
Dr Salako described the incident as a serious threat to Nigeria’s already strained health system.
‘Nigeria has fewer than 150 practising neurosurgeons for a population exceeding 220 million.
‘Against the WHO benchmark of one neurosurgeon per 100,000 people, Nigeria has about one per 1.9 million citizens’, he said.
He warned that an attack on a medical specialist was ‘a direct assault on the nation’s health security and collective wellbeing’.
The Ministry condemned all forms of violence against healthcare workers, describing them as ‘national assets working under immense pressure to save lives’.
‘They must be protected and respected, not harmed or hunted’, Salako emphasised.
He called on the Anambra State Government and all security agencies to intensify efforts to locate Dr Mbanugo and secure his immediate, unconditional release.
‘We stand firmly in solidarity with his family, colleagues, NAUTH management, the neurosurgical community, the NMA, and the entire health sector at this painful time’, the statement noted.
