The National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria has commenced on a nationwide strike indefinitely starting from today, Monday June 15.
This is even as the 14-day ultimatum issued by the NARD to the government expired on Sunday.
The strike action was announced by the union’s President, Dr Aliyu Sokomba, while he addressed a press conference in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, on Monday.
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Sokomba revealed that union members involved in working at various coronavirus (COVID-19) isolation and treatment centres across the country are exempted from the strike action.
However, the exempted union members attending to Covid-19 patients are allowed only two weeks as they will join the industrial strike action after then.
The decision for the industrial strike action was taken following series of failed meetings between the federal government and the resident doctors in the past two weeks.
Part of the arguments made by the group include lingering industrial disputes like the non-payment of special allowances for the union members.
Sokombo decried the pathetic nature of state-owned medical centres as well as the lack of protective gear for union members involved at the forefront of fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Dr Sokomba, the unavailability of protective gear has led many of their colleagues to be infected with the novel coronavirus, resulting in the death of some union members.
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