Resident doctors affiliated with the Association of Resident Doctors at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, commenced a three-day strike on Thursday, News About Nigeria reports.
The strike action follows an alleged assault on one of their members by relatives of a patient at the hospital.
John Oladapo, the President of the ARD, addressed reporters in Ibadan, demanding a public apology from the people responsible for the assault and injuries inflicted on their colleague.
Oladapo explained that the incident occurred on Sunday when a doctor was attending to a known sickle cell patient in a painful crisis at the emergency department.
According to Oladapo, two men accosted the doctor in the consulting room and subjected him to a deliberate, premeditated, and planned assault.
The doctor’s attempt to escape was met with further aggression, resulting in injuries and psychological distress.
Security officers eventually intervened to rescue the doctor.
“On Sunday, one of our members was the target of a deliberate, premeditated, planned rage and furious assault by a patient’s relative.
“The doctor was seeing a known sickle cell patient in a painful crisis at the emergency department when the two men accosted him in the consulting room and started beating him up.
“The mother of the patient being seen who tried to intervene was also beaten up in this assault. In the doctor’s attempt to escape, the men chased him down and beat him up.
“The security officers of the hospital intervened and rescued our member, but not before he sustained injuries as well as mental health and esteem,” Oladapo said.
In response to the incident, the ARD President urged the management of UCH to enhance its security architecture to prevent future occurrences within the hospital.
