Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, and its Akure Annex have commenced a 72-hour warning strike following the alleged assault of a medical doctor by a patient’s relative within the hospital premises on Sunday.
The industrial action was declared by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), FMC Owo, after a doctor on duty was reportedly attacked while attending to patients.
The doctor was said to have been assaulted by a patient’s wife during consultation. The situation reportedly escalated when some individuals later stormed the facility in search of the doctor, forcing staff to move him to a secure location within the hospital.
In a communiqué signed by the association’s President, Dr. Adeola Oluwadamilola, and Secretary-General, Dr. Dare Aderemi, the doctors described the incident as part of a growing pattern of violence against healthcare workers in the line of duty.
They alleged that the assaulted doctor was attacked by a patient and the patient’s daughter, noting that it was the second such incident recorded at the institution this year.
The association outlined several demands in response to the attack, including the immediate arrest and prosecution of those involved, the deployment of armed security personnel to FMC Owo and its annexes, a public apology from the alleged assailants in a national newspaper, and compensation for the affected doctor.
