TheCable

Tonnie Okoye, a medical doctor, has been abducted by gunmen in Edo state.

The doctor was said to have been abducted along the Benin-Asaba expressway at the weekend.

Okoye was travelling to Auchi, in Etsako West LGA of the state, when he was kidnapped.

TheCable understands that the doctor was returning from the national executive council (NEC) meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) which took place between Friday night and Saturday.

The NMA had convened the meeting to discuss the ongoing nationwide strike action of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

A member of Okoye’s family told TheCable that the kidnappers are demanding a sum of N100 million as ransom before he can be released.

“Dr Tonnie Okoye was kidnapped along Benin-Asaba expressway this afternoon (Saturday) and the hoodlums are demanding N100 million ransom for his release,” the family member said.

When contacted by TheCable on Monday, Bello Kotongs, spokesman of the police in Edo, confirmed the incident but did not give details.

“Yes it’s true that he was kidnapped on Saturday,” Kotongs said in a terse message to TheCable after an inquiry.