…Accuses CMD Of Running Hospital Aground
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, July 03, (THEWILL) – Health workers under the auspices of Medical and Health Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) have paralysed activities at the Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH) over a lingering labour dispute between them and management of the teaching hospital.
The shutdown is not unconnected with the alleged N100million pension money and other backlog entitlements owed workers in the institution, THEWILL has learnt.
This is coming barely five months after the institution celebrated its first-kidney transplant which earned the institution a national applaud.
The workers had protested on Wednesday, accusing the Chief Medical Director of the institution, Dr. Leslie Akporaye , of running the hospital aground.
They had listed the many problems facing the institution under Akporaye to include “poor working conditions, lack of promotion, withholding of salary arrears, lack of free medical care for the workers,” among others.
The main entry of the institution was barricaded for hours by the protesting workers who defied the presence of security personnel drafted to the scene at the behest of the CMD.
Some of the placards displayed by the protesters bore the inscription such as; “We do not need Leslie Akporaye as CMD,” “Akporaye Has killed Eku Hospital and Has Come to kill DELSUTH,” “This Hospital is Dead”, “We Need Our Pension Funds of Over N100m”,“We Need Our Medical Benefits”, “We Don’t Want Only Akporaye’s Private Company to Be Executing all the contracts in the Hospital”, “Contracts Should be Thrown Open for competitive Tenders,” among others.
Sources said pandemonium broke out when the security personnel allegedly released a volley of gunshots into the air to disperse the over 600 protesters who had gathered at the main gate, disallowing patients from coming or going out of the sprawling hospital edifice.
THEWILL learnt that in the ensuing confrontation, some of the protesters sustained varying degrees of injuries as they scampered for safety.
Chairman of the workers union, Comrade James Ufuomanafe Ochuko, and his secretary, Comrade Sunday Omene, who led the protesting workers, therefore ordered an indefinite strike action over the development.
“We were heavily shot at but we wouldn’t be deterred. Our members sustained bullet injuries from the shots fired by the security men but God saved us, thank God we did not die.
“But from today, we have directed all the workers to go on indefinite strike until our demands are met,” he stated.
The CMD couldn’t be reached for comment over the development when filing this report but the institution’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Iteme, expressed optimism that the management would look into the issues raised by the protesting workers.
He however added that he wouldn’t tell if their demands would be met on time since the institution was facing paucity of funds.
