Medical doctors in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have shut down medical services on Wednesday over unpaid seven months’ salaries to their colleagues employed in 2023.
A reporter who visited Kubwa General Hospital, on Wednesday morning, saw how patients were told that they could not be attended to because doctors were on strike.
It was gathered that the ongoing strike would last for three days as a warning, and might go on to become indefinite if the government fails to grant the demands of the striking doctors.
Our correspondent recalls that the Association of Resident Doctors in the FCT had handed out a 14-day day ultimatum strike warning to the minister of the FCT, Nyesom Woke, on 23 December 2024, calling him to act swiftly m
The ultimatum ended on January 6, 2025, with the FCT Minister refusing to accede to the demands of the aggrieved doctors.
Some of the demands of the doctors as listed by the president of the association in Ajuja, Dr. George Ebong, include, “For the minister to clear the Medical Residency Training Fund of 2024. Implementation of skipping and issuance of skipping letters to its members employed in 2023. Immediate payment of accouterments allowance for 2024, and payment of outgoing 13 months’ hazard allowance arrears, among others demands".
And as the doctors abandoned their duty posts, patients have been left in limbo as to what their fate will be.
Speaking to journalists, Mrs. Ihiaka, who accompanied her daughter who was seen on a wheelchair, described the situation as sad, lamenting that she was now left with the option of look for a private hospital, no matter the cost.
She urged the FCT minister to look into the doctors’ demand, as well as focus on the health and education sectors the way he is doing with infrastructural development.
“If the citizens that are going to use the infrastructure have suffered negligence in the health sector, then truly the crucial purpose of the governance has been defeated,” she said.
Permanent Secretary of the FCT Health Services and Environmental Secretariat, HSES, Dr. Babagana Adam, refused to comment on the unfolding development.
