The industrial action embarked on by resident doctors who make up the bulk of medical experts in Nigeria’s tertiary hospitals has crippled health activities in hospitals across the country.

While patients are left stranded, with pockets of skeletal services in some government hospitals, LEADERSHIP Weekend’s investigations revealed that patients have resorted to seeking the services of military hospitals for medical attention.

Our findings showed that most of the patients rejected at public hospitals have turned to either private clinics or military hospitals to seek medical care.

For instance, major surgeries have been suspended at the Parklane hospital, Enugu.

A relative of a patient who had gone to the hospital for a surgery disclosed that no doctor at the surgery department agreed to accept the sister for an operation.

But it was observed that most of the patients have now resorted to the 82 Division military hospital in Enugu.

Our correspondent who visited the hospital sighted many patients who were rejected because of the ongoing strike seeking for treatment.

It was further observed that relatives of patients who came for surgery have relocated them from Parklane hospital to another place.

Similarly most wards in public hospitals in Lagos were empty yesterday following the indefinite strike embarked on by medical doctors under the auspices of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

On a normal day, most of the wards/departments would be crowded with patients and their relatives waiting to be attended to.

However when LEADERSHIP Weekend visited the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) from 12:30 pm to 1pm on Wednesday, almost all wards were empty.

Some of the nurses, who spoke with our correspondent, confirmed that since the resident doctors went on strike, hospital services at LASUTH have been greatly disrupted.

“The only thing we give to patients with emergency cases, especially wounded cases, is first aid treatment, after which, we would tell them to go to private hospitals.

“We can’t even refer to them because it is the job of the doctor to do so.

So, we the nurses just do the best we can and tell the patients to go to private hospitals,” a nurse in the surgical department, who spoke anonymously, told this paper.

Meanwhile, a security man in the critical unit at LASUTH was seen telling a patient and her relative to go home, as there is no doctor to attend to them.

“Don’t you know that doctors are on strike? There is no doctor to attend to your mother. As you can see, everywhere is empty, not because we don’t have patients, but because we have been sending them home, as there is no doctor to attend to them,” the security man further stated.

The relative, who simply introduced herself as Mrs Adaku, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that her mother did a test last week, noting that “the test showed that she is having kidney failure.

“The lab scientist told us to commence treatment as soon as possible, hence the reason I brought my mother here. We don’t even have the money for private hospitals.  We were thinking that since doctors didn’t embark on the protest, they may as well call off the strike.”

At the oncology department of the hospital, no new patients were allowed to go in, as the security man at the department made sure no one gained entrance.

It was learnt that most of the patients rejected at public hospitals have turned to either private clinics or military hospitals to seek medical care.

For instance, a visit to the headquarters 661, Nigerian Airforce Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, situated inside the SAM ETHNAN Airforce Base, showed that most civilians were treated.

 A doctor who spoke with LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed that since the NARD Strike, there has been an inflow of civilians coming to seek medical care at the hospital.

“We welcome them. As much as we can handle the case, we treat them. We offer 24-hour tertiary level services, which include general out-patient consultations, emergency services, in-patient care, obstetric care, surgical care (orthopaedic, ENT, Urology and paediatric surgery etc) and general paediatric care.

“We also have specialist clinics for cardiology, Nephrology and family medicine. We also have a dental care department, an eye clinic. We offer laboratory services and radiological services like ultrasound, echocardiography and renal dialysis,” the doctor revealed.

He however appealed to the federal and state government to look into the demands of doctors, as the lives of Nigerians should be paramount.

But not all military hospitals are opening their doors to civilians or even have the infrastructure and personnel to manage the large influx of patients from the communities they operate in.

According to the Commander, 7 Division Hospital Consultant Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgeon Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri, Lt Col Adeniyi Samuel Ogunshaki, the hospital is not witnessing massive inflow of civil patients as a result of the strike by resident doctors. 

He said the situation was due to several checkpoints to be encountered by any civilian before entering the hospital. 

The commander however said that when there are emergencies resulting from attacks which affect both civilians and soldiers, the civilian casualties are first stabilised in the military hospital up to giving of blood, drips, and antibiotics, among others before they would be referred to government hospitals for further treatment. 

“We stabilise them, give them blood, drips and antibiotics before referring them to the state specialist hospital. In the state specialist hospital, we refer them to the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) component. They go straight to the ICRC component which is reserved for wounded civilians in attacks. We do speak to the component before the referral,” he said. 

He said the 59 bed capacity in the hospital cannot accommodate soldiers wounded in action, not to talk of admitting civilian patients, adding that the hospital runs free services to wounded soldiers. 

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Medical Resident Doctors Association, Borno State chapter, Dr Abdullahi Yusuf, said the strike action embarked on by the resident doctors across the federation affected every aspect of surgery, including emergency surgery. 

He said notwithstanding that consultant doctors are still working despite the strike, the striking resident doctors do the major jobs in the hospitals and they are more in number than the consultants. 

Dr Yusuf further said even though surgery takes place amid the strike, the number of surgeries would reduce because the resident doctors are the workforce. 

He said the impact of the strike is that there would be delays in carrying out surgery in the hospitals, especially the emergency surgery which could in turn lead to casualties. 

He said the only way out is for the federal government to consider the demands of the resident doctors to save the country from unwanted deaths that could result from the strike action. 

Part of the demands which are critical, according Dr Yusuf, is the Medical Residence Fund which government gives resident doctors for training and research which government have not been paying,  and secondly, one-to-one replacement of doctors. 

According to him, due to the fact that doctors are, on a daily basis, leaving the country to go abroad, government should ensure that each one doctor that left is replaced with another doctor, which is not happening.

He said it takes up to two years for the government to do replacement instead of allowing the hospitals to do the replacement. 

“All surgeries, including emergencies, are affected by the strike. Although the consultant doctors could be of help during the strike, the resident doctors who are on strike do the major job. It is not like there is not going to be surgery, the number of surgery would reduce drastically because we are the workforce,” he said.

In Abuja, the Customs Hospital, Karu, has come to the rescue of a lot of patients within the environment since the commencement of the ongoing nationwide strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

LEADERSHIP Weekend checks revealed that some patients, who were receiving treatment at the Nyanya General Hospital and others, are now going to the Customs Hospital at Kuru due to the ongoing strike.

When our correspondent visited the hospital, there was an influx of patients who were waiting to be attended to. 

A pregnant woman who identified herself as Mrs Gambo said she came to the hospital for antenatal care.

Mrs Gambo said she had to leave her home very early in the morning to be able to get a number to see a doctor because of the population.

She said she stays in Nyanya and that she used to register for antenatal at the Nyanya General Hospital but because of the incessant doctors’ strike, she had to register at the Customs Hospital to avoid a situation where she would have to start rushing to a private hospital during her delivery because of strike.

Another patient, Tola Gbenga, told our correspondent that she had gone to the Asokoro District Hospital as an out-patient but she was told that the doctors were on strike and was asked to return after the strike.

She said she was advised by her sister who is a nurse to go to the Customs Hospital instead of going to a private hospital.

However, she said that she waited for a very long time before she was attended to, and that when she complained, she was told it was because of the ongoing strike by doctors in the general hospitals.

A nurse in the hospital, who pleaded anonymity, said there is usually an influx of patients in the hospital whenever doctors are on strike.

She said, “Anytime doctors are on strike, you will see a lot of people coming here. It is not as if the patients are not being attended to but because they are many, it will take a longer time for some of them to be attended to.”

In Cross Rover State, a visit to Navy Reference Hospital Càlabar showed that the influx of patients into the wards is on the increase as a result of doctors’ strike.

One of the patients at the Navy Reference Hospital, Mrs Stella Bichene, who spoke with our correspondent, expressed satisfaction with the attention given to her by the hospital because.

She said the hospital took away the frustration she got at Càlabar Teaching Hospital when she visited UCTH for medical attention.

“I was told to go back because the only doctors who come to work were doctors who only come to attend to patients briefly at antenatal units and patients undergoing delivery.

“That was why I decided to come to the navy hospital. Even though the population density of patients is higher, at least I have been attended to.”

 [Leadership] 

A delegation from regional nations arrived in Niger in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to reach a peaceful solution with mutinous soldiers who overthrew the country’s president last month, according to a report by Aljazeera last night.

A plane carrying the delegation reportedly landed in the capital Niamey at about 1pm (12:00 GMT), yesterday, a day after the bloc’s military chiefs said they were ready to intervene to reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

Niger’s governing military council confirmed the arrival of the ECOWAS representatives, headed by former Nigerian leader Abdulsalami Abubakar.

A previous ECOWAS delegation led by Abubakar earlier this month tried and failed to meet Bazoum and the coup leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani.

Representatives from the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, came to Niamey and joined efforts by United Nations Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, who arrived on Friday, in trying to facilitate a resolution to the continuing crisis.

On Friday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Simao would meet the military rulers and other parties to try and facilitate a swift and peaceful resolution to Niger’s crisis.

“What we want to see is a return to the constitutional order. We want to see the liberation of the president and his family, and restoration of his legitimate authority,” Dujarric said.

On August 10, ECOWAS ordered the deployment of a “standby force” to restore constitutional rule in the country.

The soldiers who overthrew democratically elected Bazoum in July have quickly entrenched themselves in power, rebuffed most dialogue efforts, and kept Bazoum, his wife and son under house arrest in the capital.

‘Putschists won’t be holding their breath’

On Friday, the ECOWAS commissioner for peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said 11 of its 15 member states agreed to commit troops to a military deployment, saying they were “ready to go” whenever the order was given.

The 11 member states do not include Niger itself and the bloc’s three other countries under military rule following coups: Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The latter two have warned they would consider any intervention in Niger an act of war.

“The D-day is also decided. We’ve already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention,” Aljazeera quoted Musah as saying.

Although he did not disclose the specific day, he added that “we are ready to go any time the order is given.”

Defence chiefs held a two-day meeting in Accra, Ghana, to discuss the deployment of a standby force to Niger as directed by the heads of state.

Musah said the bloc is still preparing a mediation mission to Niger, “so we have not shut any door.”

“Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africa, both the military and the civilian components, are ready to answer to the call of duty.”

But for Cape Verde, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, most of ECOWAS’s 15 member-states are prepared to contribute to the joint force, he said.

On Friday, Niger’s state television said Mali and Burkina Faso dispatched warplanes in a show of solidarity.

Friday’s announcement is the latest in a series of empty threats by ECOWAS to forcefully restore democratic rule in Niger, conflict analysts said.

Immediately after the coup, the bloc gave the military government seven days to release and restore Bazoum, a deadline that came and went with no action.

“The putschists won’t be holding their breath this time over the renewed threat of military action,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a think tank.

Mutinous soldiers are cementing their rule and appointing loyal commanders to key units while ECOWAS has no experience with military action in hostile territory and would have no local support if it tried to intervene, he said.

“Niger is a very fragile country that can easily turn, in case of a military intervention, into a failed state like Sudan,” said Laessing.
‘We will all go’

On the streets of the capital on Saturday, many residents said they’re preparing to fight back against an ECOWAS military intervention.

Thousands of people in Niamey lined up outside the main stadium to register as volunteers or fighters, and to help with other needs in case the military government requires support. Some parents brought their children to sign up; others said they’d been waiting since 3am while groups of youths boisterously chanted in favour of the military leaders and against ECOWAS and the country’s former colonial ruler France.

3 I am here for the recruitment to become a good soldier. We are all here for that,” said Ismail Hassan a resident waiting in line to register. “If God wills, we will all go.”

The humanitarian situation in the country is also on the agenda. Before the coup, nearly three million people were facing severe food insecurity and hundreds of thousands were internally displaced, according to CARE, an international aid group.

Economic and travel sanctions imposed by ECOWAS after the coup, coupled with the deteriorating security, will have dire consequences for the population, CARE said.

Previously, Western countries saw Niger as one of the last democratic nations they could partner with to beat back growing attacks linked to al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) armed group, and poured millions of dollars of military aid and assistance into shoring up Niger’s forces.

Since the coup, fighters have been taking advantage of the freedom of movement caused by suspended military operations by the French and Americans and a distracted Nigerien army focusing efforts on the capital.

Last week, at least 17 soldiers were killed and 20 wounded during an ambush. It was the first major attack against Niger’s army in six months. A day later, at least 50 civilians were killed in the Tillaberi region by suspected ISIL fighters.

“The recent attacks should motivate all parties to work for as speedy and inclusive a transition as possible so they can get back to the crucial business of protecting civilians from the devastating consequences of war,” said Corinne Dufka a political analyst who specialises in the Sahel region.
“In due time, Nigeriens and their partners should look long and hard at why and how democracy in Niger faltered.”

[Vanguard]

The suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has now spent 67 days in detention under the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja without acquiring legal representation, according to sources who spoke to Punch.

Bawa is being investigated for alleged financial impropriety during his tenure as head of the anti-graft agency. He has reportedly refused to answer questions or provide written statements to DSS operatives interrogating him. Sources say he has not requested bail or release from detention.

In June, DSS agents searched Bawa’s home in Abuja in the presence of his wife and children. They also searched his office at the EFCC headquarters with a warrant. Several of Bawa’s close associates at the EFCC were also brought in for questioning about the allegations.

The DSS obtained court orders extending Bawa’s detention beyond the 48 hours constitutionally allowed in order to continue their investigation. Sources reveal the allegations include misappropriation of proceeds from the sale of assets seized by the EFCC.

In 2019, Bawa was arrested for allegedly selling 244 trucks worth N4.8 billion seized by the Port Harcourt zonal office to his cronies at N100,000 each. The trucks were worth between N20-30 million each. The former Zamfara State Governor also accused Bawa of demanding a $2 million bribe.

There are also allegations that Bawa collaborated in fraudulent deals with Bureau De Change operators together with suspended CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. The DSS is gathering evidence before charging Bawa to court.

The spokesperson for the DSS declined to comment on Bawa’s ongoing detention and investigation. With no legal counsel secured after over two months in custody, the suspended EFCC Chairman faces an uncertain future.

The leader of the military coup in the Niger Republic, General Abdourahamane Tchiani on Saturday said the army will hand over power to the civilian government within the next three years.

Recall that Tchiani and other presidential guards took over power democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum in July.

Tchiani while speaking in a televised broadcast on Saturday night said within a month, the junta will form a committee to study and form the new constitution of the country.

He spoke after meeting with a delegation of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) led by the former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd).

The coup leader further stated that Niger has no intention to go to war, adding that the country will defend itself if the need arises.

He, however, added that the door for negotiation was still open.

Tchiani said, “Our ambition is not to confiscate power,” adding that any transition of power “would not go beyond three years.”

He added, “If an attack were to be undertaken against us, it will not be the walk in the park some people seem to think.

“ECOWAS is getting ready to attack Niger by setting up an occupying army in collaboration with a foreign army.”

In his 12-minute speech, Tchiani denounced what he called the “illegal” and “inhuman” sanctions levied by ECOWAS against Niger since the military seized power.

He also announced 30 days of “national dialogue” to draw up “concrete proposals” to lay the foundations of “a new constitutional life”.