HUMILIATION OF HEALTH WORKERS ON TRANSIT IN OSUN STATE: AN UNNECESSARY DISTRACTION.

As a background information, this happened to a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons. We were contemporaries during residency here at OAUTHC. He currently runs his own Specialist Hospital here in Ife. His wife is also a Senior Medical Officer at the State Hospital, Oke-Ogbo, Osun State.

The brutalization of this couple calls for a deep introspection among Doctors, who are the De facto leaders of the health sector.

The current restriction of movement is for health reasons. It is therefore perfectly rational that health workers should be given free access to movement as directed by the President. The trend over the last 10 days has however been disturbing.

It started with the CP of Lagos state declaring that ID cards will not be sufficient for health workers. They must all carry their duty rota along with them whenever they are on the road. I was happy that his errors were promptly brought to the notice of the public and he tendered an open apology. It's common knowledge that health workers often self-sacrifice their time to offer help to many patients in need beyond the regular working hours, or even when they are not on call, for no extra pay. The CP was about to tread a wrong part before he was cautioned. Kudos to NMA Lagos and the CP as well.

Next is the Uyo case. Dr Daniel Edet of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital was on his way to work when he was beaten by a Police Sergeant till his bone was fractured. Imagine the force it will require to fracture the bone of an adult male! What a way of preventing the spread of corona virus! It took the intervention of the Akwa Ibom NMA and ARD to rescue him and resolve the issue. The poor Dr is having his fractured forearm mended by the Orthopaedic Surgeons of the hospital presently. In response, the CP of Akwa Ibom tendered an open apology and revealed that the erring policeman has been demoted from the rank of a Sergeant to a Corporal. I pray the Dr involved recovers fully, not only from the fracture, but also from the emotional trauma he was subjected to.

Today mark's another sad episode in the ongoing saga, with the physical assault of a Consultant and his wife. It takes humane feeling to understand the inhumanity meted out to this couple. I can't even begin to imagine how unkind it is to put two Doctors behind bars for being on the road, while the police team danced away to the ring tunes of the Drs' phones as patients in need of their attention rang them endlessly! It took the intervention of a pregnant patient that needed surgery to physically come to the Police station to secure the temporary release of the couple! We will await the response of Osun State NMA to this.

It is bothersome that at a time when the citizens of other countries are declaring their health care workers as heroes, clapping for them every week, with corporate organisations providing free rides, offering to feed them at work and granting rebates on items purchased, the Nigerian police has chosen to brutalize the Nigerian health care workers physically and emotionally. I think the National leadership of the NMA should speak to this. It should no longer be left to state chapters to handle. I also think that the National leadership of the Nigerian Police should address this as well. Doctors and other health care workers are already endangered by the ongoing pandemic. The super-imposed burden of physical assault is unnecessary and stands condemned. A stitch in time saves many.

Ibraheem Awowole
Consultants Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Complex Osun State

What do you expect from heartless rulers and their stewards if not wickedness in high places.

With the arrival of the Chinese "doctors" despite NMA and NARD warning, and the persistent brutalization of Nigerian doctors by the police, NMA and NARD can be likened to toothless bulldogs that can bark but can't bite

Annoying and disgusting attitude by the police. God bless the good Doctors...

Nigeria don't value her doctors whereas other countries like the UK treat them like heroes.

That is why most Nigerian doctors now choose to leabe the country...