LUTH grounded as nurses proceed with strike

• Protest in Benin varsity hospital over abduction

Nurses at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba have proceeded with their strike which they began June 10 this year despite entreaties from management.

When The Guardian visited the hospital yesterday, it observed that services were skeletal as a good number of the wards were shut with no nurse in sight.

It was also learnt that talks between the management and the nurses under the aegis of National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) to resolve the issues broke down.

It would be recalled that NANNM LUTH Chapter downed their tools on June 10, 2016 as a result of the insouciant nature of the management on the pressing needs of LUTH nurses.

The health workers are protesting against the non-elevation of 71 members in the 2015 exercise as well as non-payment of teaching allowance, lack of consumables, epileptic power and water supply among other demands.

The union, last week Thursday, met with the management of LUTH for the first time to discuss how the issues could be resolved amicably.

The Guardian gathered that the meeting ended in a deadlock. The management, during the parley, pleaded with the nurses to have a rethink as their grievances were already being addressed by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), though the protesting nurses argued that going back to work without implementation of any of their demands amounts to breach of work ethics.

The nurses blamed the action as the result of the ego of the management, blaming the management for looking down on the nurses.

They faulted management for allegedly postponing indefinitely a promotion interview earlier scheduled for June 27 this year.

Also yesterday, health workers at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) protested the abduction of a nurse, Patricia Okaka, in Benin City, the Edo State capital by unknown gunmen.

They, however, appealed to relevant security agencies to expedite her rescue.

A matron at the institution, Okaka according to reliable sources, was seized from her sport utility vehicle (SUV) while heading for work last Thursday in Egor Local Council of the state.

Commenting, the Public Relations Officer of UBTH, Mrs. Kehinde Ibitoye, described the abduction as unfortunate and an ungodly act.