Resident doctors begin strike Monday

A seven-day warning strike has been called by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors in response to the kidnapping of their colleague, Dr. Ganiyat Popoola, who was taken captive about eight months ago.

The NARD President, Dr. Dele Abdullahi, told our correspondent on Sunday that the strike will start at 12 a.m. on Monday, August 26, 2024.

The decision, according to Abdullahi, was taken at the Emergency National Executive Council meeting.

"The strike is starting at midnight today," he declared. It is a warning strike that lasts for seven days and is all-encompassing. 

“During the strike, there will be no concessions, and there will be no emergency care.”

On December 27, 2023, Popoola, a registrar in the National Eye Centre's Department of Ophthalmology in Kaduna, together with her husband and nephew, went missing.

Popoola and her nephew are still being held captive, despite the release of her husband in March.

NARD members have staged protests to call for Dr. Popoola's release at all of the country's tertiary hospitals.