Health Workers Unions Express Solidarity With Striking Doctors Amidst Federal Government’s Threat

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

Amidst threats by the Federal Government to activate the no-work-no-pay rule, striking Resident Doctors have received the endorsement of the Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Association JOHESU/AHPA.

The Source reports that the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARDS, are currently on a week-long industrial action to press for the release of their members languishing in various kidnap holding cells across the Country.

Particularly, the Resident Doctors are irked by the prolonged stay in the abductors den of Dr Ganiyat Popoola ,a Registrar with the National Eye Centre, Kaduna.

Dr Popoola was, alongside her husband were abducted on December 27, 2023.

While her husband has been released, she has continued to be held by her abductors, a development her colleagues are not finding funny.

To express their anger and disillusion with Dr Popoola’s ordeal, her colleagues, Resident Doctors across the country on August 26, 2024, proceeded on a seven-day warning strike.

The Federal Government has threatened to stop their salaries in line with a recently  enacted no-work-no-pay law.

In a statement jointly issued by Kabir Minjibir and Martin Egbanubi National Chairman and National Secretary respectively, JOHESU/AHPA expressed concern over the abduction of Dr Popoola and her continued stay in the abductors den since  December 2023.

The two unions noted that the fate of Dr Popoola and others  underscores the challenges being faced   by  healthcare workers in the. country.

They lamented the incessant kidnappings of medical personnel, noting that such unfortunate situation has the potentials to undermine healthcare delivery system in Nigeria.

While calling for urgent and concerted efforts by security agencies to secure the release of Dr Popoola and others in the  abductors den, they also expressed unflinching solidarity with the striking Resident Doctors.