![Before the declaration of the warning strike, doctors had commenced a sub-regional protest in Lagos State and Abuja over the abduction of their colleague. [Getty Images]](https://image.api.sportal365.com/process/smp-images-production/pulse.ng/26092024/8cd28606-e431-4cac-896c-5156e605253f?operations=autocrop(800:480))
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The National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has declared a 7-day nationwide strike to demand the release of their abducted colleague, Dr Ganiyat Popoola, who has been in captivity for over eight months.
The strike is set to begin at 12 am on Monday, August 26, 2024.
NARD President Dr Dele Abdullahi announced the strike following an emergency virtual meeting of the association's National Executive Council on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
He emphasised that the strike would be total, with no emergency care services available for one week.
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Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, a registrar in the Department of Ophthalmology at the National Eye Centre in Kaduna, was kidnapped alongside her husband and nephew.
While her husband was released in March, Popoola and her nephew remain in the custody of the kidnappers, a situation that has sparked widespread concern and outrage within the medical community.
"The continuous captivity of Dr Popoola is unacceptable, and we can no longer stand by idly while one of our own remains in danger," Dr Abdullahi stated, according to Channels TV.
He added that the strike was a last resort after previous protests across tertiary hospitals failed to secure Popoola's release.
Doctors protest in Abuja and Lagos
Pulse Nigeria reported earlier that doctors had commenced a sub-regional protest had already started in Lagos State over the abduction of their colleague.
The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), National Orthopedic Hospital Igbobi, Lagos, was one of those who joined the nationwide solidarity march over the prolonged captivity of Dr Ganiyat.
Similarly, the association chapter at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) also trooped out in large numbers to protest.
The ARD President, UATH, Dr Abah Innocent, called on the hospital's management and the Federal Government to intervene and quickly release their member.
Innocent said that kidnappers and abductors had now seen businesses among health workers who work throughout the day and night to give the best healthcare to their patients.