Doctors Call Off Strike at Nigerian Teaching Hospital After Apology and Management Intervention

Doctors at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital in Akwa Ibom State called off their strike after the family of a woman accused of assaulting a doctor apologised and hospital management intervened.

Tiemah Akpabio, chairperson of the Nigerian Medical Association in Akwa Ibom, said the association’s state executive council reached the decision on Friday. The strike was due to end officially at 8 a.m. on Saturday, 5 September.

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The family has made an apology. The management has also said they will look into matters of assault. A committee will be set up to forward ways to protect the workers in the hospital.

“The family has made an apology. The management has also said they will look into matters of assault. A committee will be set up to forward ways to protect the workers in the hospital,” Akpabio said. “Based on that, they have called off the strike.”

In a letter dated 2 September, Susana Adie apologised for her conduct during a visit to the hospital’s diabetic unit on 1 September. She acknowledged assaulting resident doctor Edidiong Ubia while seeking clarification about a prescription, retracted the offensive words she used, and apologised to the doctor, the resident doctors’ association and the hospital community.

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Based on that, they have called off the strike.

“I sincerely regret my actions and any unpleasantness that may have arisen from the incident,” Adie wrote. She asked the doctors to accept the apology and prevent the dispute from creating “continued tension and resentment” between her and the medical profession.

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I sincerely regret my actions and any unpleasantness that may have arisen from the incident.

The Association of Resident Doctors had declared an indefinite strike on Wednesday. The NMA had demanded that hospital management and security agencies identify those responsible and bring them to justice within 48 hours, while also calling for stronger security at health facilities.

The dispute followed another interruption at the hospital four months earlier. In May, doctors in Akwa Ibom went on strike after an EFCC operation at UUTH involving the arrest of a senior hospital official caused panic and disrupted clinical services. The agency later apologised to the affected doctor and medical professionals.

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continued tension and resentment