Who killed Iluobe?

• Published date: 09 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Conflicting narratives about the gruesome killing of a medical doctor in Delta State on New Year eve raise questions about the thoroughness of police investigation and possible motivating factors behind the enterprise of crime in Nigeria. But the nut of this murder must be cracked earnestly if only to inform the design of the country's security architecture as could prevent future reoccurrence, besides getting justice for the slain doctor's family and associates.

Dr. Uyi Iluobe was the medical director of Olivet Clinic, a private hospital he ran in Oghareki, Ethiope-West council area of Delta State, and was gunned down by yet-to-be identified / apprehended assailants on 29th December, 2022. The circumstance of the killing is, however, in dispute between the late doctor's colleagues and the Delta State Police Command that is hunting the killers. Even the facts of the incident are foggy. It was initially reported the dastardly act occurred on 31st December, whereas later reports put the date at 29th December. Besides, Iluobe's colleagues in the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) waged the allegation that he was killed by relations of a gunshot victim treated at his hospital, who eventually didn't make it through; though in later accounts, they said the victim survived but couldn't pay the treatment bill and Iluobe had to enlist police help to get his money. On the other hand, the police said the murder was more likely the handiwork of cultists and not vengeance killing by aggrieved relations of a gunshot patient. But though these arguments were waged in conflictual terms, there is to my mind a common ground that could be a possible pointer to the killers.

Early last week, the doctors' association issued a statement condemning the killing and wondering if it was a crime that Iluobe decided to render service on new year eve. The statement by NMA president, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, said: 'The Nigerian Medical Association received with shock and sadness the news of the murder on December 31, 2022, of Dr. Iluobe by relatives of his patient at Oghara, where his practice is based. The above scenario being the response of the relatives to the loss of a patient from suspected gunshot injuries can never be justified and has taken violence against doctors and other healthcare workers from injuries to murder.' The statement added: 'It is unbelievable that in the face of a debilitating medical brain drain, the few doctors who patriotically decided to stay back and take care of...