Many persons were reported injured as the election to leadership positions of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Enugu State chapter turned violent Thursday.
Thugs numbering over 30 allegedly sponsored by a faction of the state exco stormed the Michael Okpara Square venue of the election and descended on voters and electoral officials.
Among those said to have been beaten and injured in the fracas was NMA chairman in the state, Dr Ike Okwesili.
The thugs also reportedly overturned election boxes and destroyed chairs, tables, canopies and other materials used at the venue.
It was learnt that policemen drafted to provide security at the venue could not prevent the fracas.
The incident was said to be a culmination of the leadership crisis rocking the state branch of the association.
The Herald learnt that the immediate trigger of the fracas was the insistence of resident doctors from the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUT), Parklane to participate in the N electoral process despite being barred by the Okwesili-led leadership for not being financially up-to-date.
Reacting to the incident, a senator for Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, Sen. Shehu Sani described it as “unfortunate”.
However, he mocked the doctors for allowing despicable political thuggery into their midst.
“The violence at the Nigerian Medical Association elections in Enugu is unfortunate.
“The virus of political thuggery has infected our physicians,” Sani wrote on Twitter on Friday.
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