IBUKUNOLUWA KING-OKUNEYE
Resident doctors at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital have been instructed by the state government to call off their ongoing strike within 24 hours from Tuesday, “or forfeit their salary and risk being sacked”.
The secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. Tammy Danagogo, in a statement on Tuesday, said while the doctors had the right to go on strike, the Rivers State Government expects that such action “should be restricted to Resident Doctors that are directly under the payroll of the Federal Government, particularly as the Rivers State government does not owe salaries or benefits to resident doctors in the state”.
The Association of Resident Doctors at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, had after its congress on Monday, directed its members to join the nationwide strike.
The leadership of the association, in a nine-point communique, accused the state government of failing to domesticate the Medical Residency Training Act 2017 and pay COVID-19 inducement hazard allowance to its members.
They also claimed that the government is guilty of refusing to promote doctors at the hospital for a minimum of eight years.
The doctor in the communique, however, commended the state government’s effort in developing infrastructure in the health sector.