…demands urgent intervention
Workers of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, have called on the federal government to urgently intervene in the frequent harassment and intimidation they received from some individuals within the hospital.
This is as they blamed a particular staff of the hospital for the foiled attempt by some unnamed persons to abduct the hospital’s Medical Director, Dr. Monday Igwe, last Thursday.
The staffers under the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), and Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), made the call during a joint press conference held at the hospital on Tuesday.
They discountenanced a protest purportedly held on 30th August by suspected touts who disguised as workers of the hospital against the institution’s management.
The unions declared that the workers were happy with the administration of the Medical Director.
Addressing the conference with most of the hospital staffers in attendance, the Chairman of MDCAN, Dr Jane Nnabuchi said that the protest was staged by sponsored thugs who were bent on tarnishing the image of the institution.
“Our collective attention has been drawn to the stage-managed protest that happened during the early hours of 30th August 2023 in front of our hospital’s main gate, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu.
“We hereby debunk the stage-managed protest by a group of hired thugs that called themselves Civil Society Organisation (CSO) alleging that there is no peace in the hospital and that the workers are unhappy alongside other allegations levelled against the Medical Director, Prof. Monday Igwe.
“We hereby state categorically that the piece of information is not only false, but was made to mislead the general public and to cause confusion.
“We want to challenge anybody on that protest video circulating around to provide any proof of identity as staff of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu or student of the School of Post Basic Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of our hospital,” she said.
She further narrated how they were being blackmailed with falsehood by certain individuals in the hospital.
Nnabuchi continued: “Those people said they are members of the civil societies but they are unidentified. We don’t know them. They were just at the gate of the hospital. We saw those things on social media. They did not have any direct contact with anyone inside this hospital or anybody working here.
“They just came to do whatever they came for and they did it outside the hospital and went away. Those to the best of my knowledge are hired thugs. What I am telling the federal government of Nigeria is that we are being held hostage against our will.
“People are pushing things on us which are not really what is happening. People are pushing falsehood on us and they are doing everything in their power to make it as if it is the truth. And we are quite agitated. We are worried about the trend of news that is circulating about us.
“So many things that we don’t even know about are being said about us which are basically falsehood and it is worrisome. So, we want the Federal Government to wade into this matter and fish out the perpetrators of this blackmail and call them to order to allow us have some rest and peace in this hospital.”
Also, the ARD President, Dr Ferguson Mbachu said that, “Unions from our hospital have written to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare on several occasions in the past regarding the obnoxious activities of this particular staff of School of Post Basic Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing of our hospital who is behind all the negative activities in the hospital since 2015 and all these have been to no avail.”
On his part, Chairman of JOHESU, Obinna Eze, said that workers at the hospital do not have any reason why they should protest against the Medical Director as he has always prioritized their interest and wellbeing.
He said: “We have a working Medical Director who has been doing much for our members. Some of us were due for conversion from junior to senior staff but when he came, he converted everyone. And this is ongoing as people are still receiving their conversion letters. The man is workers’ friendly.”
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