UBTH Patients Voice Frustration as National Resident Doctors’ Strike Leaves Them Without Care

Frustration and disappointment were boldly written on the faces of hundreds of patients who had turned up on Monday for medical attention at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, Ugbowo, Benin City, Edo State, as they were turned back because the doctors were on strike. Most of the distraught patients were those who had Monday appointments with their doctors, with many of them coming to the hospital from within and outside the state.

Recall that the NARD had declared a seven-day warning strike over the abduction of their colleague, Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, who was kidnapped in Kaduna, Kaduna State, about eight months ago.

Popoola, a senior registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology, National Eye Centre, Kaduna, was abducted on December 27, 2023, alongside her husband and nephew. However, whereas her husband was released by their abductors in March 2024, Popoola and her nephew had remained in captivity.

In declaring the warning strike, President of NARD, Dr. Dele Abdullahi, warned that the strike, which began midnight of August 26, would be “total”, stating unequivocally that “There will be no concessions, there will be no emergency care.”

One of the distraught patients who simply identified herself as Felicia, expressed dismay over the development.

Felicia, who lamented that she had travelled several kilometres to keep an appointment with her doctor, added that she had also defied the early morning downpour to find her way to the hospital only to be turned back.

According to her, “I wasted my time and over N3,000 transport to and from the hospital. I defied the early morning downpour only to be turned back”.

Members of the NARD had, before the Monday warning strike, held protest rallies in all tertiary institutions across the country, calling for the unconditional release of Dr. Popoola, but to no avail.