Patients and their relatives at various government hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, have been left stranded as resident doctors embarked on a three-day strike on Wednesday.
The Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD FCTA) said the three-day warning strike was as a result over unpaid salaries, allowances, and other demands which have not been met by the FCTA.
The President of ARD FCTA, Dr George Ebong, told journalists at a press briefing in Abuja that the strike came after a three-week ultimatum issued last year by the doctors elapsed.
Dr Ebong decried the neglect of hospitals and doctors’ welfare in the nation’s capital.
He stressed that doctors in Abuja have become abandoned projects, calling on the Minister of FCT, Nyesome Wike, to intervene to avoid an indefinite shutdown of hospitals.
According to him, the decision to embark on the three-day warning strike is a fallout from its members’ Congress held on Tuesday.
“The three-day strike is being implemented across all government hospitals in Abuja. From Wuse to Asokoro, Maitama, Kubwa, Zuba, Kwali, Abaji, Nyanya, and other all of our hospitals in Abuja.
“We gave the government a three-week ultimatum to meet our demands, and after that, we met with them and dialogued on several occasions. They pleaded for two weeks, but after that elapsed, nothing has been done. Not even the minimum thing. We expected them to pay for the 6 months of unpaid arrears to doctors”.
Honestly, doctors have been abandoned projects. Just as the roads are being constructed, the welfare of doctors should be considered by the minister.
“After this three-day strike, we will do an appraisal. If nothing is done, we will go on an indefinite strike.
“We want the Minister of FCT to solve this problem to avert an indefinite shutdown of the hospitals in Abuja,” he said during the press briefing on Wednesday.
One of the patients at Wuse General Hospital told THE WITNESS that they were left stranded for hours without any medical attention from the doctors.
Recall that in December 2024, ARD FCTA has warned of an impending shutdown over failure to meet its demands.
