Doctors in Volta Region fear for their lives

Medical doctors at public hospitals in the Volta Region have threatened to seek mass transfer from the region, citing insecurity and increased threats to their lives, families and property.

Their threat comes after five doctors in the region were robbed in five separate incidents within one month.

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

In another case, a 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 items were his and that thieves had broken into his home, virtually ransacked.

Others also had unpleasant stories to tell about burglaries that had taken place in their homes while 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.
However, the last straw that broke the camel's back was an attempt to kidnap a nurse who works at the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho.

Larry Lumor Gota was walking from his house around the Nurses' 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 three persons 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 are still unknown to him.

Luckily, the registration numbers of the vehicle and 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 fitted 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. Meanwhile, this has also convinced the doctors to leave the region, seeing that the police do not want to protect their interest.

Investigations by the Daily Graphic, however, indicate that the Bureau of National Investigations and the Office of the Regional Security Co-ordinator are not taking the issue lightly. They are taking steps to investigate the matter and also forestall any further attacks on doctors.

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 round-the-clock security surveillance had been put in place and that any attempt by bur¬glars would be effectively dealt with.