Alexander Okere, Benin
A fire victim, Mrs. Margaret Edobor, has died at the accident and emergency ward of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, following the nationwide strike by resident doctors.
It was gathered that the late Edobor died from an infection at about 2:30pm on Tuesday.
The 65-year-old mother of seven was said to have been admitted a month ago but could not continue her treatment when the Association of Resident Doctors commenced the strike on Monday.
The elder brother of the deceased, Mr. Sunday Ogbewe, said, “She had a fire accident and she was admitted here (UBTH). When the strike started, there was no doctor; so, she contracted an infection.
“It’s very painful. I have been crying. She is gone. When it happened, I even called some doctors to attend to her. But they said no. They (doctors) should have human feeling.”
But the President of ARD, UBTH chapter, Dr. Owen Omorogbe, said the decision of the doctors to down tool was a national directive in protest of the non-payment of some of their financial entitlements.
According to him, only a small percentage of their salaries had been paid since January, 2014.
Owen said, “Most of the works in this hospital (UBTH) and in most teaching hospitals are done by resident doctors. So, when we withdraw our services, we expect that it will have a toll on the populace.
“It is a painful decision that was informed by several means of dialogue and advocacy. We are well aware of the pain it has brought to the people of Edo State. We appeal to them to understand that what we are trying to do is to seek a definite solution to all these perennial problems.”
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