Due to unpaid pay, benefits, and other demands, the Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD FCTA) has started a three-day warning strike. Activities in Abuja’s government hospitals have been suspended due to the strike. This was revealed by Dr. George Ebong, President of ARD FCTA, during a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to Ebong, the strike occurred after the doctors’ three-week ultimatum from the previous year expired. Ebong bemoaned the nation’s capital’s disregard for hospitals and the welfare of physicians. He emphasized that doctors in Abuja had turned into abandoned projects and urged Nyesome Wike, the FCT Minister, to step in and prevent hospitals from closing permanently.

He claims that the decision to start the three-day warning strike is a result of Tuesday’s members’ congress. “Every government hospital in Abuja is implementing the three-day strike. All of our hospitals in Abuja, from Wuse to Asokoro, Maitama, Kubwa, Zuba, Kwali, Abaji, and Nyanya,” he stated.

“We met with the government and had multiple conversations after giving them a three-week ultimatum to meet our demands. They begged for two weeks, but nothing was done after that time. Not even the bare minimum. We anticipated that they would cover the six months of unpaid medical bills.

To be honest, medical professionals have been neglected initiatives. The minister should take into account the welfare of doctors at the same time that roads are being built.Following this three-day strike, we will conduct an evaluation.

“We want the Minister of FCT to solve this problem to avert an indefinite shutdown of the hospitals in Abuja,” he stated at the press briefing on Wednesday, adding that if nothing is done, we will embark on an indefinite strike. “We have no other option, so we are going on strike.

It is not only about pay and benefits. Its goal is to guarantee that our hospitals can operate, that we can work with honor, and that patients can get the treatment they are entitled to.

Many people think that doctors are constantly requesting money, but this is survival, not greed. No Nigerian can be unpaid for six months. Since there are no substitutes, no professional should work 36–72 hour shifts without breaks.

Remember how the ARD FCTA threatened to shut down the organization in December 2024 if its demands were not met?