EKSUTH Doctors Threaten Strike After Student Attack

The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) branch, Ado-Ekiti, has issued a fresh threat to embark on a full-scale industrial action. This ultimatum follows a violent attack on two of its members by students who were involved in a road accident. The doctors have given the Ekiti State Government until six o’clock tomorrow to identify and apprehend the assailants, warning that failure to do so will result in an indefinite strike that could cripple hospital services and severely affect patient care.

The incident, which occurred on Friday, saw students who had been involved in an accident rushed to the Accident and Emergency Department of the hospital. According to Dr. Ayodeji Olatayo, the President of the EKSUTH NARD, the students became violent and assaulted two doctors after feeling they were not being attended to properly. Dr. Olatayo described the attack as “barbaric and uncalled for,” stressing that the union would no longer tolerate such behavior from patients or their relatives. This latest assault is not an isolated incident; it is part of a troubling and recurring pattern of violence against health workers at the institution. Just last year, hoodlums stormed the same Accident and Emergency unit, vandalized equipment, attacked doctors, and even made away with a corpse after a patient’s death, prompting a similar strike action by the doctors.

The recurring violence underscores a deeper, more systemic problem facing Nigeria’s healthcare sector. Research shows that attacks on doctors and nurses are often a symptom of frustration with a system burdened by underfunding, staff shortages, and long waiting times. The perceived delay in care, as cited by the student assailants, is a major trigger for aggression. Overstretched and exhausted health workers are often left to bear the brunt of patients’ anger, which stems from a combination of poor infrastructure and the “japa” (emigration) syndrome that has seen a mass exodus of medical professionals from the country. Rather than being seen as places of healing, hospitals have become sites of conflict, where a lack of patience and empathy from both sides often leads to a breakdown of civility.

In a joint press conference, Dr. Adeyemi Famous, a former president of the NARD and chairman of the EKSUTH Inter-Allied Forum, echoed the call for a new, punitive legal framework. He stated that it is high time the Ekiti State House of Assembly enacted a law that would criminalize attacks on health workers, arguing that this would serve as a crucial deterrent. “Our members were also attacked some weeks ago; there is a need for the Ekiti State House of Assembly to put in place laws to make those found in such acts pay for their actions,” he said. He further called on security agencies to ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of the culprits, emphasizing that the union would not stand by and allow its members to be harmed and disrespected while performing their life-saving duties.

Should the doctors make good on their threat, the consequences would be severe. As a Dependable NG report on a recent nationwide resident doctors’ strike confirmed, the withdrawal of their services—as they form the bulk of the medical workforce in tertiary hospitals—can paralyze the entire healthcare system. Patients are left stranded, surgeries are postponed, and consultants are overwhelmed. In some cases, as seen in a recent strike, patients have died from a lack of care. The potential strike at EKSUTH would not only put the lives of patients in jeopardy but also draw national attention to the precarious working conditions of health workers in the country, a problem that successive governments have struggled to resolve.

The doctors’ demands are clear: they seek respect, security, and a system that holds assailants accountable. Their ultimatum is a cry for help from a profession that has become a punching bag for a frustrated populace. The ball is now in the court of the Ekiti State Government and its law enforcement agencies. How they respond in the coming hours will determine not only the fate of the two injured doctors but also the immediate future of healthcare in the state.