Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, have suspended medical services and declared a strike on Wednesday in response to the non-payment of salaries for the past seven months to their colleagues hired in 2023.
On Wednesday morning, a reporter visiting Kubwa General Hospital observed that patients were informed they could not receive care due to the doctors’ strike.
Sources indicate that this strike is intended as a three-day warning and may escalate to an indefinite strike if the government does not meet the doctors’ demands.
It is important to note that the Association of Resident Doctors in the territory had previously issued a 14-day ultimatum to the FCT minister on December 23 of the previous year, urging immediate action.
This ultimatum expired on January 6, 2025.
Among the demands articulated by the association’s president, Dr. George Ebong, are the clearance of the Medical Residency Training Fund for 2024, the implementation of skipping and the issuance of skipping letters to members employed in 2023, the immediate payment of the 2024 accoutrements allowance, and the settlement of outstanding 13 months’ hazard allowance arrears, among other requests.
A woman, Ihiaka, who was accompanying her daughter in a wheelchair, expressed her distress over the situation, stating that she now had no choice but to seek care at a private hospital, regardless of the expense.
She urged the FCT minister to address the doctors’ demands and to prioritize the health and education sectors with the same attention given to infrastructural development.
“If the citizens that are going to use the infrastructure have suffered negligence in the health sector, then truly the crucial purpose of the governance has been defeated,” she told Daily Trust.
Meanwhile, the FCT permanent Secretary, Health Services and Environmental Secretariat, HSES, Dr. Babagana Adam, has reportedly declined to speak on the development.
