Resident doctors commence strike to protest deductions in salaries

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) Chapter, has commenced a three-day warning strike to protest against deductions in their salaries.

Dr Ige Alexander, the Chairman of the association in the hospital, told newsmen on Friday in Ilorin that only a fraction of their salaries had been paid since 2014.

Alexander, who said that ARD members in other teaching hospitals in the country were being paid full salaries, alleged that they were being “short-changed.’’

He said UITH management told resident doctors that it had to employ additional house officers for the hospital while allocation was inadequate.

“It is only in this teaching hospital we are seeing this; in others across the country, they are paying full salaries,” he said.

The chairman said the deductions in salaries were becoming unbearable, noting that the development was affecting their livelihood and families.

But Prof. Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, the Chief Medical Director of UITH, said such deductions were not peculiar to the teaching hospital alone.

According to him, the ARD must ensure that the lives of patients remain the priority.

Olatinwo, who expressed sympathy with the doctors, said government was doing all it could to rectify the problem.

He also argued that there were no deductions as it was government that was owing, adding that it would also pay the debts soon.

The chief medical director further explained that house officers were critically needed in the UITH, saying this informed the recruitment.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the doctors sang solidarity songs and carried placards with inscriptions such as “ARD says no to incomplete salaries”, “#Bring back our money” and “Nothing but full salaries.”