Workers stay off duty as snakes invade ABSUTH
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Workers of Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), Aba were on Wednesday asked to stay away from duty to enable the authorities of the health institution fumigate the premises following alleged invasion by snakes.



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It would be recalled that the ABSUTH staffers were on strike for six months over non-payment of their seven-month salaries. The strike was called off on January 19, 2011. The staffers had so far resumed work without salaries to allow for dialogue between the management and the state government to resolve the crisis.


One of the staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Daily Sun that the hospital’s workers were instructed not to come to work by the management to allow for fumigation of the premises.

The invasion of the hospital by snakes and other reptiles was traced to overgrown weeds in the compound as a result of the prolonged industrial action. The staffer said snakes and other reptiles had been disturbing them in their offices, a situation which informed the management’s decision.

The Public Relations Officer of ABSUTH, Mr Joe Onwuka said the hospital management took the decision to fumigate the premises to avoid any ugly incident.


He said that some parts of the compound had already been cleared after the long strike by the workers.“You can see that the landscaping had been cleared and the weeds burnt, keeping the premises neat and avoiding any ugly incident,’’ he said.

Onwuka said the hospital management, asking the workers to stay away from duties for one day might not be totally correct, because several activities were still going on in the compound.

Thats scary!