The Benue State Police Command has confirmed that Dr Jonah Ogbaji, Chief Medical Director of Multicare Hospital in Makurdi, was arrested in Abuja by operatives of the Force Intelligence Department.
In a brief statement released on Thursday morning, the command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Peter Aondongu, disclosed that Ogbaji was taken into custody by members of the Special Tactical Squad attached to the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja as part of an ongoing investigation.
The development followed reports circulating widely on social media in Benue State that the doctor had allegedly been abducted. According to the reports, he was taken away at about 9pm on Wednesday while attending to patients at his hospital located along Ankpa Road in Makurdi.
Ogbaji’s daughter, who identified herself as Patience, also confirmed the incident in a telephone conversation, saying her father had been abducted and appealing for his safe return.
She said her father had twice served as an ex-officio member of the Peoples Democratic Party in the North-Central zone.
However, the state command spokesman, Aondongu, later described the alleged abduction as a “false alarm”.
The PPRO said, “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 state command.
The command advised residents of the state to disregard reports of the alleged abduction or kidnapping of the medical doctor.
