Resident doctors at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Lokoja staged a protest on Friday, calling on President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Health, Ali Pate, to investigate the poor working conditions and alleged mismanagement at the hospital.
The doctors, under the Association of Resident Doctors, Lokoja Chapter, also demanded the reinstatement of their President, Dr. Jimoh Umar, who was suspended last year for speaking out about the hospital’s challenges.
During the protest at the hospital premises, the immediate past Chairman of the association, Dr. Olushola Baoku, lamented that the hospital once had 315 doctors, but now has only 43 doctors due to poor working conditions.
“The hospital before now had 315 doctors, but today, we have only 43 because of the bad system,” he said.
He also condemned the hospital’s contract system, where doctors are forced to renew their contracts every two months, saying it denies them pension, promotion, hazard allowance, and other benefits.
“This category of doctors has no pension, no promotion, no hazard allowance, no minimum wage award, and they work in a harsh environment where facilities are not functioning,” he added.
Dr. Baoku accused the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Olatunde Alabi, of refusing to pay outstanding salaries, despite directives from the federal government to use the hospital’s internally generated revenue to settle the arrears.
“We are shocked that up till now, this hospital owes huge amounts to workers,” he said.
He further alleged that since 2012, the hospital has not employed a single doctor or other health workers, leading to a severe shortage of staff.
“This hospital has become a slave camp under Dr. Olatunde Alabi’s administration,” Baoku stated.
The doctors recounted several tragic incidents caused by the hospital’s poor conditions.
Dr. Baoku recalled how a hospital attendant, who worked for over 20 years, died due to a lack of electricity at the Accident and Emergency Unit.
“She was sick and brought to the hospital, but there was no light. She died of an avoidable death,” he said.
Another incident involved health workers being beaten by a patient’s relative after a lack of functional equipment made it impossible to save a life.
“The Intensive Care Unit cannot keep a patient for three hours because of a lack of facilities,” Baoku explained.
The doctors also demanded the immediate reinstatement of Dr. Jimoh Umar, saying the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, had already approved his reinstatement.
“The Minister approved his reinstatement since December 12, 2024. The letter reached the hospital on January 11, 2025, but the CMD has deliberately refused to act,” Baoku said.
He called on the hospital management to obey the directive, citing Section 3 of the Civil Service Rule, which classifies refusal to treat an official file, insubordination, and other violations as misconduct.
This is the third protest within a week by resident doctors at FTHL. They vowed to continue protesting until their demands are met and the hospital is improved.
