Abia doctors embark on indefinite strike over salaries they are being owed

Due to unpaid wages from the state administration, doctors in the Abia state have gone on indefinite strike.

A 24-month wage arrears owed to doctors and other personnel at the Abia State Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) and a 13-month arrears owed to their counterparts at the Health Management Board, HMB, reportedly led to the closure of both public and private hospitals in the state.

This is coming barely a week after the striking doctors barricaded the entrance gate to the Government House Umuahia, demanding immediate payment of the backlog of salary arrears.

Speaking to Vanguard, the State Secretary of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr Daniel Ekeleme, said that the strike was total and indefinite.

Ekeleme who revealed that they’ve already received 98% compliance at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, as doctors stayed away from duty, vowed that they will sustain the measure until Government did the needful.