Nurses at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, staged a protest on Thursday in response to the alleged assault of a student nurse by a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the facility. The demonstration was led by Adejoke Bello, Chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) for Ogun State.
According to reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the incident occurred on September 24, when a medical doctor allegedly slapped the student nurse in the theatre suite. The nurses expressed frustration over their unsuccessful attempts to seek redress from the state government following the incident.
During the protest, the nurses chanted various songs to express their grievances and carried placards with messages condemning the alleged assault. Some of the slogans included: “End bullying of nurses,” “End nurses’ brutality,” “Bullying of nurses is not acceptable,” “Zero tolerance for nurses bullying,” “Respect for nurses,” “Respect for care,” and “Justice for nurses, a must.”
Bello stated that the peaceful protest aimed to register their dissatisfaction and outrage regarding what she termed an unethical practice by the doctor. She emphasized that the assault violated public service rules and should never have occurred under any circumstances.
“It is a gross misconduct for you to have slapped your subordinate at work. So we are here to say that the entire nurses in Ogun State won’t tolerate this,” Bello declared. She added that the situation should not have escalated to a protest, as they had previously submitted a written complaint to the relevant authorities last Monday and given them 48 hours to address the unfortunate incident.
The protesting nurses demand accountability and a commitment to ensuring a safe and respectful working environment for all healthcare professionals.