Resident doctors in Lagos, Enugu begin strike

Resident doctors in federal government-owned hospitals in Lagos and Enugu States yesterday begun a three-day warning strike to protest some unresolved issues affecting them.

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), through its National President, Dr. Jibril Abdullahi, had on May 27, announced that the doctors would begin a three-day warning strike on Monday.

Abdullahi said at a news conference in Abuja that their grievances were based on residency training and the re-integration of the doctors into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Others demands include payment of three months’ salary arrears owed doctors in the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri and non-implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some resident doctors at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Lagos, were seen rendering skeletal services at the Accident and Emergency unit.

Dr. Akintayo Akindele, the President of the Igbobi chapter of the association, told NAN “We have withdrawn our services in areas such as clinics, ward rounds, theatre services, and casualty out patients’ services.

“But, we are still rendering services in the areas of critical emergency and ward call services to alleviate the sufferings of our patients,“ he said.

Also, Dr. Olusegun Akinwotu, the association’s president at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, said that they had fully complied with the national secretariat’s directive on the strike.

In Enugu, the resident doctors at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, joined their counterparts in other states to embark on the warning strike.

The President of the association, Dr. Obinna Nduagubam, told NAN in Enugu that his members joined the strike as early as 8.00 a.m.

Nduagubam said, “We just started this three-day warning strike and after it, we will give the Federal Government another 25 days ultimatum, to comply. (NAN)