Benue Police Confirm Arrest of Doctor Thought Abducted

The Benue State Police Command has clarified that Dr. Jonah Ogbaji, who serves as the Chief Medical Director of Multicare Hospital in Makurdi, was apprehended by operatives from the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja, rather than being abducted.

DSP Peter Aondongu, the command's Public Relations Officer, released a brief statement on Thursday morning, confirming Ogbaji's arrest. He stated that the medical doctor was taken into custody by personnel from the Special Tactical Squad, operating under the Force Intelligence Department, Abuja, as part of an ongoing investigation.

Earlier, widespread reports had circulated across social media in Benue State, suggesting that Dr. Ogbaji had been kidn*pped. These reports claimed he was taken from his hospital along Ankpa Road, Makurdi, around 9 pm on Wednesday, while attending to patients. Patience, identified as Dr. Ogbaji's daughter, had also spoken to a correspondent via telephone, confirming her father's alleged abduction and pleading for his safe return. She further mentioned that her father had previously served two terms as an ex-officio member of the Peoples Democratic Party within the North-Central geopolitical zone.

However, the state command's spokesman, Aondongu, subsequently dismissed the abduction claims as a "false alarm." He elaborated, "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 indicated that the specific details surrounding the investigation remained unknown to the state command at the time of his statement. The command has since urged residents to disregard the earlier reports concerning the alleged abduction or kidn*pping of the medical doctor.