From Abel Leonard, Lafia
Dr Yahaya Adamu, Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Center, Keffi says his management team has been able to get two warring unions at loggerheads over an incident to return to work after both unions declared three days strike actions.
He confirmed the development yesterday to newsmen shortly after a meeting held by the management of the hospital with officials of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) and Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) FMC Keffi chapters at the hospital in Keffi local government area of the state on Thursday.
Adamu represented by Dr Usman Kana, Head of Clinical Services in the hospital told newsmen that members of the two warring unions in the hospital embarked on three days strike action from Wednesday over a physical confrontation between two members of both unions that occurred recently.
Adamu who described the fracas as a domestic misunderstanding that should not have led to both unions refusing to work at the expense of patients added that management has been able to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of both unions hence the call off of both strike actions.
“What happened is like a family problem. There was a misunderstanding between a doctor and a senior staff member which led to an altercation.
“So the union on the doctor side were aggrieved and not happy and said that why will they be challenged. Then they had an emergency meeting without following due protocols and embarked on strike.
“With what happened and the action taken by the doctors, the other union also wanted to protect their member and also embarked on strike without giving management enough time to investigate and offer necessary solutions to the misunderstanding.
“That is why we called them to this meeting to discuss the issue and reconcile and as of now, they have agreed to talk to their members and return to work,” he said.
Adamu expressed regret over how the matter escalated which he blamed on impatience despite the fact that management of the hospital had immediately swung into action and set up a committee to investigate the fracas.
“They say when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. So it’s the patients that suffered over this incident and all this is due to impatience,” he said.
He however assured that as soon as investigation is completed, whoever is found culpable will face sanctions in line with civil service rules.
He also urged the general public to ignore rumours alleging that the hospital was totally shutdown during the strike action embarked upon by the unions.
“Some staff did continue work during the strike like senior doctors and nurses. Nurses were not part of the strike. So it’s not true that there was a total shutdown.
