Doctors in Lagos have embarked on sit-at-home strike to protest what they describe as police harassment of health workers trying to move through the city to treat patients during a coronavirus curfew.
According to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the doctors’ union, it has become unsafe for its members to “continue to provide healthcare under the present confused arrangement”.
The NMA directed that the action should commence 6pm on Wednesday.
It cited an example in which it said an ambulance carrying a patient was “prevented from moving to a destination while the attending healthworkers were harassed and temporarily detained”.
The association gave the directive in a joint statement signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Saliu Oseni and Ramon Moronkola, respectively in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that to strengthen compliance of the curfew, the police in Lagos on Tuesday mounted road blocks in different parts of Lagos by 8.00p.m.
They also allegedly arrested some people, including essential workers that were presumed to have flouted the curfew directive.
The NMA leaders said that their decision was as a result of the conflicting directives by the state government and law enforcement agents on the status of essential workers, including doctors and other health workers.
The doctors also said that their action was necessitated following incessant harassment of healthcare workers in Lagos by the security agents.
The NMA lraders said, “The Lagos State Branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for its members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.
“We resolve that all doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos to proceed on a sit-at-home starting from 6.00 p.m. today, May 20, indefinitely.
“Until such time when the state government and the Commissioner of Police, are clear on how they wish to operationalise the lockdown/restriction of movement directive as it relates to essential service and service providers, including healthcare services and doctors.”
Nigeria has had more than 6,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 192 deaths. Most of the cases have been in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest city with some 20 million inhabitants.
A lockdown in Lagos lasting just over a month was eased on May 4, but an overnight curfew was put in place nationwide. Essential workers were given the right to move at all times, but the doctors say this has not been properly implemented.
All doctors under NMA auspices in Lagos should “proceed on a sit-at-home starting from 6pm today”, which would continue until rules on movement restrictions were clarified, the union said.
The sspecifically want the government set out the clarification in writing and publicize in both orthodox and social media.
Frank Mba, Nigeria Police Force spokesman, said there were no conflicting directives.
He cited a statement by the force late on Tuesday that stated: “All essential workers including medical personnel, firefighters, ambulance services, journalists, etc, are exempted from the restriction of movement associated with both the partial lockdown and the national curfew across the federation.”
He said all police commissioners in the country had been told to enforce the exemptions.
Agency reports
