Abduction: Patients stranded as UBTH doctors join warning strike

Patients receiving treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) were stranded on Monday, as the hospital’s doctors joined the one week warning strike declared by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) over the abduction of their colleague in Kaduna State.

It was gathered that the patients who thronged the hospital for medical treatment were left unattended to by medical officials as a result of the strike.

It was also gathered that after several hours of waiting at the General Out Patients Department (GOPD) as well as other departments, the patients were asked to go back home.

A patient, who only gave her name as Faith, lamented that she entered the rain as early as 7am to seek care at the facility but was sent back home as a result of the strike.

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The patient, who was at the hospital for routine eye check, lamented that she spent over N2,000 on transportation without getting treatment.

“We were stranded for several hours before they later asked us to go back home, that they are on strike. And UBTH is the only good government hospital for us here, as the central hospital has been demolished.”

Meanwhile, a doctor at the hospital who craved anonymity, said they joined the nationwide warning strike embarked upon by the NMA, over their Kaduna State colleague who was kidnapped eight months ago and had not been released from captivity, even after a ransom was paid.