Patients Groan As Doctors’ Strike Cripples Services At Abuja Hospitals

Patients successful wide hospitals crossed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) person continued to carnivore the brunt of nonmigratory doctors’ ongoing seven-day informing onslaught nether the Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA).

The installation looked deserted erstwhile our analogous visited Tuesday’s usually bustling Nyanya General Hospital. Only 2 patients were seen successful the pistillate ward, which is typically overcrowded. Two patients remained admitted astatine the exigency unit, attended to by nurses without doctors.
Findings by our analogous revealed that galore patients had been discharged prematurely, portion others were turned distant and advised to instrumentality aft the strike.

A caregiver astatine the infirmary who spoke anonymously told our correspondent, “Since yesterday, nary caller patients person been admitted. Those who travel are asked to instrumentality adjacent week erstwhile the onslaught whitethorn person been called off.”

One of the stranded patients, Ms. Rose Adole, narrated her ordeal. She said she had an assignment with a advisor astatine Asokoro District Hospital, but was turned backmost due to the fact that nonmigratory doctors were connected strike.

“I wasn’t alert of the strike. When I got to Asokoro, I was told to instrumentality adjacent week. I came down to Nyanya, reasoning I could inactive beryllium attended to, but it was the aforesaid story. I don’t person wealth for backstage hospitals, truthful I volition hold until they resume,” she lamented.

At Asokoro District Hospital, the concern was not different. The usually crowded wards and exigency units were astir empty, with lone a fistful of patients being attended to.

Around the hospital, nurses offered constricted services, portion a fewer consultants struggled to grip exigency cases and pre-scheduled appointments.

A stranded diligent astatine the hospital, James Agabi, said she came from Masaka successful Nasarawa State, wherever she resides, to support her assignment astatine the Asokoro General Hospital, wherever she is registered. However, she was turned backmost and asked to instrumentality adjacent week.

She appealed to the FCT Administration to urgently code the doctors’ demands, noting that mean Nigerians endure the most.

A caregiver who spoke anonymously confirmed the development, noting that galore patients were discharged owed to the lack of doctors. “Only a fewer consultants are astir to spot patients with captious needs oregon anterior appointments. But caller cases are not being admitted for now,” she explained.

The strike, which entered its 3rd time connected Monday, has near patients stranded and hospitals nether terrible strain. There are fears that the concern could worsen if the concern enactment persists.
ARD-FCTA had declared a one-week informing onslaught implicit unpaid wage arrears, mediocre welfare, and worsening conditions successful Abuja hospitals.

The determination followed an Emergency General Meeting held virtually connected Friday, September 5, 2025, wherever the doctors decried what they described arsenic “management’s unwillingness to admit the exigency successful the FCT wellness sector.”

The onslaught began astatine 8:00 a.m. connected Monday, September 8, 2025, and volition extremity astatine 8:00 a.m. connected Monday, September 15, 2025.

According to the communiqué signed by ARD-FCTA President, Dr. George Ebong, and General Secretary, Dr. Agbor Affiong, the doctors listed aggregate grievances, including the non-payment of wage arrears ranging from 1 to six months for doctors employed since 2023, non-payment of the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), delayed promotion exercises, and continued deductions from members’ salaries.

They besides condemned the nonaccomplishment to enlistee caller doctors contempt terrible manpower shortages, informing that the situation has led to stress-related deaths among wellness workers and poses “grave, perchance catastrophic risks to some patients and doctors.”

Other issues highlighted see by the doctors see non-payment of arrears from the 25–35 per cent upward reappraisal of CONMESS, which the national authorities has already implemented for its staff, etc.

The doctors issued a bid of demands, including contiguous colony of each arrears, urgent recruitment of caller aesculapian officers earlier the extremity of 2025, afloat outgo of the MRTF, merchandise of timelines for skipping and conversion processes, and urgent renovation of FCTA hospitals.

They further called for a State of Emergency successful FCT hospitals, stressing that the superior metropolis should acceptable the benchmark for healthcare successful Nigeria. Instead, it has go “a shadiness of what it should represent.”

The communiqué warned that the doctors would reconvene astatine the extremity of the informing onslaught to reappraisal advancement and determine connected “the adjacent imaginable enactment of action” if their demands are unmet.

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