Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt

Dr Peter Igwedibia, a Dentist with the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH, who was kidnapped at about 7.pm on Wednesday, March 13, at the hospital gate has regained his freedom.

Our Correspondent learnt from family sources and fellow colleagues in hospital who want to remain anonymous for an understandable security reasons that the medical Doctor was set free on the night of Thursday, March 14.

It will be recalled Dr Igwedibia and his wife were rushing their four months old sick daughter for urgent medical attention in UPTH when they were intercepted by armed hoodlums around the hospital gate.

The criminals threw out the wife and daughter from the car after dispossessing them of all the personal effects and drove off with the traumatized medical Doctor.

Speaking earlier on the abduction of Dr Igwedibia, the Presdent of Association of Resident Doctors in UPTH ,Dr Richie Agiri, said,  “His daughter was sick. He and the wife and the sick daughter were intercepted on their way to hospital. They threw out of wife and baby and drove off with Doctor inside the car into the bush.”

Dr Igiri, had pleaded with the Police and security agents to commence immediate investigation into the kidnap, which he described as one too many.

From the time of the Doctor’s abduction and his eventual release, neither the Police nor the UPTH issued official statement on the matter.

The frequency of the kidnapping of medical doctors in the State abated for a while after the Nigerian Medical Association Rivers State under the former Chairman,  Dr. Ibitrokoemi Kurubo, had staged  several public protests to Government House Port Harcourt and the Police headquarters at the Moscow road area of the capital city.

Besides medical Doctors, commuters plying major link roads into Rivers State capital beyond 4pm are at the high risk of being kidnapped.

Commercial buses are regularly hijacked with passengers taken hostage for ransom.

The most dangerous portions of the roads on the East-West road are Choba to Mbiama junction in Bayelsa state and Omagwa to Omerelu  to Imo state.