The Police Public Relations Officer for the Benue State Command, DSP Peter Aondongu, has stated that the Chief Medical Director of Multicare Hospital, Makurdi, Dr Jonah Ogbaji, was arrested by operatives of the Special Tactical Squad attached to the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja.
Aondongu was reacting to the alleged abduction of the medical doctor, which had gone viral on social media across the state.
However, the PPRO said in a terse statement issued on Thursday that the medical doctor was arrested by operatives of the Special Tactical Squad attached to the Force Intelligence Department, Abuja, in connection with an undisclosed investigation.
Social media platforms in the state had been awash with reports of the suspected abduction of the medical doctor around 9pm on Wednesday while he was attending to patients at his hospital along Ankpa Road, Makurdi.
Aondongu, in the statement, described the alleged abduction as ‘false’.
According to the PPRO, ‘The Command has received enquiries regarding reports of the alleged abduction of a medical doctor and owner of a hospital in Makurdi.
‘Upon verification, the report is false. The doctor was not abducted. He was arrested yesterday at his hospital by operatives of the Special Tactical Squad (STS) attached to the Force Intelligence Department (FID), Abuja, in connection with an ongoing investigation.
Aondongu said the specific circumstances surrounding the investigation were yet to be known to the Command.
The command, however, advised the people of the state to disregard reports of the medical doctor’s alleged abduction or kidnapping.
The arrested medical doctor was a two-term ex-officio member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), North Central.