Resident doctors in Borno opt out of nationwide strike

Borno State chapter of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) has said its members will not participate in the nationwide strike due to start on Monday, June 20.

The state acting president of the association, Dr Muhammad Abdullahi, made the chapter’s position known in a statement issued in Maiduguri, the state capital, on Monday.

The statement quoted Abdullahi as saying “it should be noted that majority of inhabitants of the 27 local government areas of Borno State are currently residing in internally displaced persons’ camps in Maiduguri.

“Two days ago, about 200 victims with different ailments were freed from captivity within Bama town and its environs, all receiving care in our facility.

“Maiduguri is a war theatre, comprising men of the Nigeria Army, who need all our support in terms of provision of health care services.

“It should also be noted that the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital is the only hospital serving not only Borno, but serves as reference centre for other states in the North-East, bedevilled by Boko Haram insurgency.”

According to him, it was in the light of these that the state’s chapter of the association was calling on the leadership of NARD to look into the plight of the people of Borno as it exempts itself from the nationwide strike.