MDCAN, other unions join resident doctors to shut down Abuja hospitals

The Medical and Dental Consultant Association of Nigeria, Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists of Nigeria, and Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals have joined the Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory, to shut down hospitals in Abuja.

The unions disclosed this in a joint press conference on Tuesday at Wuse District Hospital, Abuja.

Recall that ARD FCTA declared a three-day warning strike starting from Tuesday over the sacking of 127 health workers by the Civil Service Commission, FCT.

reports that all hospitals in the nation’s capital are a shadow of themselves due to the action.

Speaking on the shutdown, the secretary of MDCAN, Dr. Aderonke Akande, lamented that health workers in FCT are being treated unfairly, justifying the civil action.

According to her, it is inhumane for the FCT Civil Service Commission to sack health workers without due process and diligence.

She demanded the immediate reinstatement of the sacked health workers and payment of their April salaries.

“Recently we received with root shock maltreatment of our fellow workers, the healthcare workers in the FCT. So this message emanated from the chairman of the FCTA civil service commission, in which over 127 healthcare workers were tagged, absconded, and also had their salaries stopped.

“So this shows a breach in due process and maltreatment of healthcare workers in the FCT when you don’t have a transparent mechanism and framework for verifying the status of your staff; then it becomes worrisome.

As part of our demand, one, everybody on that list should be reinstated back into the payroll with immediate effect.

“Also requested that they should pay them their salary. In this economic reality, you are telling people that they are absconded. That’s the greatest of all embarrassments,” she stated.

Pharmacist Afunu Umaru of AHAPN and Comrade Henry Oshowo, secretary of NUAHP, in their statements re-echoed the agony faced by health workers in Abuja, demanding the urgent intervention of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.

On his part, Dr. George Ebong, president of ARD, begged Wike to end the mess and injustice health workers are experiencing in FCT.

“So we’re pleading with the minister to fix this problem so that our reaction to this injustice.

He reiterated the call for the sack of FCT Civil Service Commission Chairman, Emeka Ezeh over gross incompetence.

“We know for sure that the minister doesn’t indulge in any form of injustice, so we’re pleading with him to fix this problem, because if you move around every other hospital, everywhere is quiet. No one is working.

“We want him to come around to fix this problem, and we need him to caution the chairman of the Civil Service Commission. In fact, we would love him to replace him.

If the minister, who we believe has plans to fix the healthcare system in Abuja, started with the infrastructure, we’ve heard that he’s moving to education and then to healthcare. If the minister really needs to get this fixed, I don’t think the chairman is supposed to be one of the people that should work for him,” he said.