Health workers begin indefinite strike over EFCC invasion of UUTH in A’Ibom 

Work has been grounded at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) following the invasion of the hospital by officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Uyo zone.

It was gathered that two masked men wearing EFCC vest arrived the hospital premises on Tuesday morning and tried to forcefully arrest a staff, an action which met with resistance from other staff members. 

It was learnt that at some points, the EFCC called for backup who came and started shooting sporadically to scare away staff members who had gathered to resist the arrest of their members. 

According to a source, the EFCC officials were able to finally whisk away the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee’s (CMAC), Prof Effiong Ekpe and other three staff members of the hospital.

The source added that resulting from the operation, many health workers sustained injuries while other who tried to capture the incident lost their phones.

However , the State Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Aniekan Peters, has directed doctors across the state to immediately shut down services, and in solidarity, JOHESU leaders has also declared a total hospital shutdown in protest against what they termed as an inhumane and barbaric act.

Confirming the incident, the Public Relations Officer, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr Gabriel Eyo, said the action of the EFCC was an onslaught on the hospital and workers.

Eyo said it was wrong for a Professor of cardiothoracic surgery, and the only one in the state to be treated like a criminal, noting that the man was injured in the process, as such, the strike was called to protest the injustice. 

“In the early hours of this morning, masked man wearing the EFCC jacket, stormed into the hospital premises, walked into the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee’s (CMAC) office, Prof Effiong Ekpe, and they beat him to pulp. 

“They dragged him like a common criminal. When members of staff, students and other health workers walking into the hospital tried to resist them, they shot sporadically into the air, and the hospital premises, and dispersed the crowd with tear gas. 

“Even when they reached the hospital gates, when the hospital security saw what was happening, they locked the gates. The members of the EFCC knocked down the gates. 

“Prof Ekpe is the professor of cardiothoracic surgery, the only one we have in Akwa Ibom State. Anyway, we don’t know what he has done, but we don’t really care at this point. Whatever he did, there’s a due process for this kind of thing. Even criminals are not treated this way. The only thing that should have been done would have been to send an invite, which was not done. 

“I heard that he was about to operate on a patient, and then you whisk him away in such manner? Very demoralizing, very traumatic. That man, I heard, he was even bleeding from his head. That man may have been exposed to severe traumatic brain injury. Imagine the psychosocial trauma that he may never recover from. 

“The NMA just had a meeting. of its members, so we’ve begun the indefinite strike. The resolutions will be made public very soon.

“A lot of injured people that were asthmatic. I think our NMHL man is asthmatic so he is having reactions to ETH gas because people that we believe will struggle and we can’t actually quantify the figure as of this point in time,” he stated. 

Reacting to the shot-out which involved the police, the Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, Baba Mohammed Azure said he ordered some Policemen to join the EFCC officials to pick a staff member of the hospital on the instruction of the Judge in an ongoing court case. 

Azure said before the policemen entered the hospital premises for the arrest, he had informed the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Emem Bassey to instruct his staff to grant the policemen access into the premises.

“The EFCC went for an arrest in the hospital this morning and the CMD called me to verify if my men were among those in the hospital.

“I said, ok, let me send my policemen to the place. So I now sent a CSP to go and verify. And the CSP went there. He verified them to be EFCC personnel. He called to let me know that it is EFCC personnel that are in the hospital. 

“I called the head of EFCC who confirmed to me that they were actually the ones that went to pick that person. On the instruction of the court, that right now they are in court and they are having a court case and the judge stood down the case that they should bring that person. That is why they went to bring him. 

“I called the CMD and advised him to open the gate for them to carry that man because it is a legitimate duty.

“So we didn’t go to invade anywhere. We went there on the invitation of the CMD to check, to verify those who came to do the arrest, whether they are legitimate or not. And we confirmed to him they are legitimate and he should allow them to move,” he stated.