Medical doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, on Wednesday expressed their grievances against the management of the institution, through a peaceful protest against the management for ignoring their demands on adequate security and non-payment of their salaries for five months, among other issues.
The doctors, under the aegis of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), LUTH Chapter, also commenced a two-day warning strike.
The disenchanted doctors, displayed various placards with inscriptions such as “Enforce our security, we don’t feel safe”, “LUTH is dead, we are mourning”, “Pay our outstanding salaries,” “Doctors have become objects of foreign exchange”, “A hungry doctor is a dangerous doctor, pay us,” among others, urged the hospital management to be responsive to their demands.
The Association’s Chapter President, Dr Kayode Makinde, bared the minds of his members, saying it was painful that some of the resident doctors in the hospital had not been paid for the past five months.
“How do you explain to your family and loved ones that as doctors who work in LUTH, who provide care to the sick and the vulnerable that your life can be cut short even in the line of duty due to inadequate security? Isn’t this a basic requirement to function?” he asked.
However, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Prof. Chris Bode, who spoke through the Chairman, Medical Adversary Committee, Prof. Olufemi Fasanmade, said the union members decided to go on strike because the management issued some members query.
He said: “The doctors that were issued query based on their conduct have responded, but the ARD wants the management to withdraw the query and apologise, which is not possible. They have decided to lump up other issues, but I can tell you that the reason for their agitation was because of the query issued to some members.”
He said that the allegation that some of the members were owed up to five months was false.
, Idi-Araba, on Wednesday expressed their grievances against the management of the institution, through a peaceful protest against the management for ignoring their demands on adequate security and){kind=link}