HO DOCTORS FEEL INSECURE….. threaten to seek mass transfer

Story: Victor Kwawukume, Ho

Medical doctors at the Volta Regional Hospital have threatened to seek mass transfer from the region citing insecurity and increased threats to their lives, families and properties.

Their call came in the midst of five burglaries to five medical doctors over a period of one month.

In the face of these situations, they have claimed that they are unable to go about their duties with full concentration and would as an option, seek mass transfer to places in the country where their safety and security would be guaranteed.

In one instance, one of the doctors, Dr, Anthony Ashinyo was called to attend to an emergency at 12 midnight, but while he was responding to duty call and operating on a pregnant woman, another operation was taking place at his home which led to the theft of two laptops that contained crucial medical data and other personal belongings.

In another case, one Dr. Gowu was returning from work when he saw a truck carrying what looked like the belongings of a family who were either moving away or were coming to settle in the area.

Little did he know that the belongings were his and that thieves had broken into his home and virtually ransacked the entire house and gone away with all his properties.

Others also had unpleasant tales to tell about burglaries that had taken place in their homes whilst they were away or sleeping after a hard day’s work.

Police sources confirmed that they had received complaints about the burglaries that took place at the residences of some doctors of the hospital.

However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was an attempt to kidnap a nurse who also works at the Regional Hospital.

Larry Lumor Gota was walking from his house around the Nursing Training College last Sunday, when a vehicle stopped by him and a whiteman together with a woman and a third person alighted and attempted forcing him into the vehicle.

At that instant, two other persons on a motorbike came along and tried assisting the other three to push Larry into the vehicle.

But for the alarm he raised and the alertness of neighbours, Larry would have been kidnapped and taken away for reasons that were still unknown to him.

Luckily, the vehicle registration number and that of the motorbike were taken and the matter was quickly reported to the police.

A police source told the ‘Daily Graphic’ that the whiteman, a Dutch, had told the police that his house had been burgled the previous day and the description that his housemaid gave of the burglar resembled Larry and so he wanted to take him to his house for the housemaid to identify him.

Official police sources have been silent on the issue and would not give details of it to the press and this has also engendered the threat of the doctors to leave the region seeing that the police did not want to protect their interest.

Investigations by the ‘Daily Graphic’ however indicated that the Bureau of National Investigation and the office of the Regional Security Co-ordinator are not taking the issues lightly and are therefore taking steps to investigate the matter and also to forestall any other attack on any doctor.

A source close to the office of the Regional Security apparatus told this reporter that security had been beefed up in the medical village area where most doctors lived and that they had instituted round-the-clock security surveillance and that any consequent attempt by burglars would be effectively dealt with.