Stop Treating Doctors Like Criminals: NMA Decries Police Harassment, Kidnapping Risks

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Edo State Branch, has voiced deep concern over the arbitrary arrest, detention, and police harassment of doctors following adverse clinical outcomes or fee disputes with patients.

During his inaugural press conference in Benin City on Sunday, August 2, 2026, Edo NMA Chairman Dr Andrew Eigbedion appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, the AIG Zone 5, and the Edo State Police Commissioner to guarantee due process and consult regulatory bodies before taking action against medical personnel.

Dr Eigbedion highlighted alarming trends in the Edo Central Senatorial District, where doctors face frequent police detentions over civil issues without preliminary clinical reviews.

“Medicine is a science, not magic. Doctors pledge skill and compassion but cannot guarantee outcomes,” Eigbedion asserted, warning that criminalising medical judgment forces doctors into defensive medicine.”Hospitals must remain sanctuaries of healing, not theatres of violence,” Dr Eigbedion declared.

Reiterating zero tolerance for assaults and kidnappings, he paid tribute to the late brother of Dr Babatunde Abu, who was killed in captivity following an abduction earlier this year, while recalling previous abductions of Dr Aimuamwosa Igbinobaro and Dr Idialoise Stephen Osamaye.

He urged law enforcement agencies to treat healthcare security as an urgent public health imperative.