Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Lokoja, Kogi state on Wednesday July 1, embarked on an indefinite strike. 

The strike announcement was made after some unknown armed men stormed the hospital on Wednesday morning, vandalising properties and carting away valuables.

In a communique signed by Nnanna Agwu, chairman, Association of Resident Doctors (NARD); Samuel Obajemu, chairman, Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU); Abdulmalik Idris, chairman, National Association of Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) and John Omoche, chairman, Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), the health workers alleged that their lives were being threatened because of the state’s “poor” management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health workers who said they are “totally withdrawing services across board”, listed some conditions that must be met before returning back to work and they include; adequate security of lives and properties, validation of COVID-19 status of some staff of the hospital that have been in isolation, provision of COVID-19 testing facilities (PCR machines) and maximum of 20 patients being attended to daily.