Hundreds of patients were stranded at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, UBTH, on Monday following the strike by the Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, of the hospital.
DAILY POST reports that the patients who were at the teaching hospital for medical care were not attended to due to the strike.
The resident doctors were said to be on a solidarity strike with the Kaduna State chapter, whose doctor, Ganiyat Popoola, was kidnapped in Kaduna in December 2023 along with her husband and nephew.
Her husband was, however, said to have been released in March 2024,
but Popoola and her nephew remain in captivity.
The kidnappers were also said to have demanded N60 million ransom before they released Popoola’s husband.
Ganiyat Popoola is a resident doctor at the National Eye Centre in Kaduna.
But at the UBTH, patients who were not able to access medical care as a result of the doctors’ strike described the abduction of Doctor Ganiyat Popoola as unfortunate.
A patient who simply identified herself as Mrs Felicia expressed dismay over the development, saying that she travelled over 11 kilometres to honour an appointment with her doctor.
“I wasted my time and over N3,000 to and fro transport to get to the hospital today. Today is my appointment date. Unfortunately, a woman doctor kidnapped since last year was still with her abductors. I really sympathise with her family and doctors in the country. This kidnapping of a thing is getting too much.
“You can see now, we are not able to see our doctor today, and they said the strike will last for one week. I still appeal to the doctors to consider us by attending to us. Some of us are old,” she said.
She added that she also defied the early morning downpour to find her way to the hospital.