Alexander Okere, Benin
Gunmen, suspected to be highway robbers, have killed a medical doctor with the University of Benin Teaching Hospital in the Ovia North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.
The deceased, identified as Dr Ehidiamen Oaikhena, was said to have been shot by the gunmen in the Okada area, while returning to Benin on January 16.
It was gathered that Oaikhena, aged 34, was returning from a hospital where he had conducted a successful surgery when he ran into an ambush by the suspected robbers.
It was also gathered that amidst the pandemonium, the deceased, a senior registrar in the Anaesthesiology Department of UBTH, reversed his vehicle in a bid to avoid the gunmen.
But he was said to have been sighted by the armed men, who opened fire on him around the Ovia River.
A source said Ehidiamen later died at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital.
The source said, “As he (Oaikhena) saw the gunmen, he reversed with speed. But they thought he was a security official. So, they fired shots at his vehicle.
“The bullets penetrated the door of the car and hit him in the stomach. He still drove with the bullet wounds, but later became weak.
“He called his wife, who is also a doctor, and she mobilised an ambulance from the UBTH to pick him up. He spent five days at the ICU before he died.”
Friends and well-wishers of the deceased expressed sadness in different Facebook posts.
One of them, Greh Ikheloa, said, “God will grant him eternal rest in your bosom. Just imagine…someone full of life, young, vibrant and with a bright future was cut short by wicked armed robbers. God will surely repay them.”
Another Facebook user, Moniq Aletor, stated, “I am totally heart-broken. Such a gentle guy…just cut off from earth prematurely…oh God! May his soul rest in peace. Amen.”
While confirming the death of the doctor, the Public Relations Officer of UBTH, Mr. Joshua Uwaila, said, “We lost a doctor in the anaesthetics department. But I do not have information on the cause of death. It is bad enough for us that we lost a very young and bright doctor.”
The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, dismissed some reports attributing the death of the doctor to the activities of suspected herdsmen.
“All I need to tell you is that it is falsehood; there is nothing like that. The death of the medical doctor has absolutely nothing to do with Fulani herdsmen,” he added.
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