The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan on Friday July 10 rejected new patients and is hurriedly discharging in-patients, as its nurses and non-academic staff embark on strike.
UCH's Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) have gone on strike to press home their demand for payment of their monetisation arrears.
The Branch Chairman of NASU, Mr Ibrahim Salau, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that there was no going back on the strike until the union and the government reached an agreement on the payment of the arrears.
``We got directive from our national headquarters to commence an indefinite strike and which we have obeyed. We have been on this matter since 2004,'' he said.
A nurse (names withheld) told NAN that the Federal Government had been promising to pay the monetisation arrears, but up till now had done nothing.
According to her, the workers were told that the arrears would be included in the 2009 budget, pointing out that nothing ought to have stopped the payment.
She said that nurses would resume work only when the Federal Government paid the monetisation arrears.
"We have to discharge our patients and refer some of them to the state hospitals because we cannot attend to them.
``We are not happy not attending to our patients or discharging them when they still need treatment but it is the fault of the Federal Government who would not give us our entitlements," he said.