The ssociation of Resident Doctors (ARD), Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) on Monday threatened to go on strike should the management of the hospital fail to withdraw sack letters to its 30 members within 21-days.
The ARD President in the hospital, Dr. Amina Japheth Onyewuchi and its Public Relations Officer (PRO) Dr. Sesugh Matthew Iorfa in a signed 3-page statement issued to newsmen at a press conference in Makurdi shortly after rising from an emergency congress meeting noted that the demands must be met in order to avert an imminent industrial action.
“It is in the interest of Benue people, especially in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, that we have decided against the immediate commencement of an industrial action even though this matter warrants it. We have rather chosen to give a 21-day ultimatum, after which we will have no choice than to opt for indefinite strike action.
“We demand the immediate withdrawal of sack letters issued resident doctors and reinstatement of those already sacked; the adoption and full implementation of the 2017 MRTA as currently obtainable in training institutions across Nigeria,” the statement said.
The association lamented that the management of BSUTH has been sacking medical doctors who are not just doctors but some of the most experienced hands at a time that even retired doctors are being forced out of retirement to return to work, to save humanity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
It further explained that “The management has issued over 30 doctors sack letters; have rescinded some letters and have also upheld others in a haphazard and subjective manner that does not just follow the laws regulating the service of resident doctors in Nigeria, but is also a disservice to the suffering people of Benue State. The ARD further argued that the sacking of the doctors was not done in accordance with the laws regulating the service as outlined by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN). Our correspondent reports that BSUTH serves as one of the isolation centres in the state for the management of COVID-19 pandemic.
