The election into executive positions in the Enugu State Chapter of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has ended in chaos as thugs alleged to have been sponsored by a faction of the body invaded the venue of the election.
The much talked about election was holding at the Michael Okpara square before the thugs stormed the venue with dangerous weapons and upturned the ballot boxes where many members suffered serious injuries.
Men of the Nigeria Police Force who were drafted to the venue of the election had hectic time preventing major casualties. In the process to control the crowd and send people away from the venue, they also dealt with serious blows on the members.
Among those who sustained injuries was the NMA chairman in the state, Dr Ike Okwesili, who was reported to have been thoroughly beaten.
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In a viral video, the thugs, numbering over thirty, destroyed chairs, tables, and canopies among other objects being used for the election.
According to reports, trouble had started by the alleged insistence of some resident doctors drawn from the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUT), Parklane, to participate in the exercise against rules barring them from doing so by their failure to update their membership financially.
It was gathered that the Okwesili-led executive was said to have insisted that the rules must be followed in the election.
The affected members were, however, reported to have regrouped when the election had gone midway and began to destroy things with their hired thugs.
It would be recalled that members of the same group had a few weeks ago, announced that they had suspended the NMA chairman over alleged constitutional breaches.
See video below:
Nigerian Doctors made an attempt to democratically elect new officers for the Nigerian Medical Association. It all ended in sorrow. 😢 pic.twitter.com/tXH5GYVEFR
— Káyọ̀dé Ògúndámisí (@ogundamisi) August 7, 2020