FMC Abeokuta in turmoil as patient’s relative stabs health worker, scientists unload instruments

....Unions declare 72-hour warning strike, call for prosecution of suspect, increased hospital security

Toyyibat Qasim and Firdaus Obiremi

Medical laboratory scientists and other healthcare workers at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Abeokuta, Ogun State, have embarked on a 72-hour warning strike following the alleged stabbing of a medical laboratory scientist by a relative of a patient within the hospital premises.

The industrial action, which began at 11am on Monday, is expected to end at 8am on Thursday 15 October, according to a position letter and strike notice issued by the hospital’s Joint Action Committee.

The commission, in its October 12 letter addressed to the medical director of the hospital, identified the injured worker as Mr Lawal Toheeb Olasunkanmi, a medical laboratory scientist.

The unions said the strike was declared in solidarity with the injured colleague and to force hospital management to address health workers’ safety concerns and strengthen security measures within the facility.

Describing the incident as an attack on healthcare workers, the committee said: “This barbaric act of violence against a healthcare worker carrying out their professional duties is a grave attack on the dignity, safety and well-being of healthcare workers who dedicate their lives to providing care.”

A scientist at the hospital’s medical laboratory, Comrade Oladejo Abdullahi Abiodun, who narrated the circumstances of the incident, said he received a distress call from a colleague at about 6.30pm on Sunday.

According to Abiodun, the caller informed him that a scientist on duty had been stabbed in the head and was bleeding.

He said he immediately rushed to hospital, where he confirmed that his colleague had suffered stab wounds.

Abiodun added that photographs and video recordings of the incident were available.

While the circumstances leading to the alleged attack were not immediately clear, the Joint Action Committee argued that the incident required an urgent institutional response and formal action by law enforcement authorities.

The committee said the attack was not simply an individual complaint but an issue affecting the entire workforce.

The committee also called for a clearly defined policy against violence, threats, intimidation, harassment and physical assault against hospital staff.

According to the unions, such a policy should establish clear procedures for reporting incidents and include collaboration with security agencies and law enforcement authorities.

They also requested an urgent meeting with hospital management to review existing security gaps and agree concrete measures, with clearly defined timescales, to protect staff.

The committee said management must demonstrate its commitment through immediate and measurable actions.

“We must not allow acts of violence against healthcare workers to become normalized or repeated in our institution,” it states.

The committee added that the action is also a statement that health workers would not accept a situation in which they would be exposed to preventable violence without adequate protection and an adequate institutional response.

The advisory was issued by a joint action committee comprising representatives of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), National Association of Nurses and Midwives of Nigeria (NANNM), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research and Allied Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU).

At the time of submitting this report, the hospital management’s response to the strike notice and the unions’ demands was not available.

It was also unclear whether the alleged attacker had been arrested or whether police had launched an investigation into the incident.

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