The strike by nurses at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba, has taken a new turn as they directed their members to fully join the industrial action.
The midwives’ union has also withdrawn its services entirely, declining to provide even skeletal services.
The striking workers have vowed to sustain the action until their demands are met.
Aggrieved patients at the hospital protested against the incessant industrial actions by medical workers, particularly nurses and midwives.
They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take decisive action in tackling the persistent industrial disputes within the health sector.
The protesters gathered under billboards and trees within the hospital premises, describing the strike as an “unbearable strike action embarked upon by the nurses in the hospitals.”
They alleged that many lives had been lost since the hospital was established in Asaba due to repeated strikes.
One of the patients, Mr Paul Okonkwo, said there was barely a fortnight when different trade unions at the FMC Asaba did not embark on one industrial action or another.
Dr Victor Osiatuma, the Chief Medical Director of the centre, assured that patients would not suffer and that plans were underway to mitigate the strike’s impact.
He appealed to the nurses and midwives to reconsider their position.
