Katsina Health Workers Down Tools Over Colleagues’ Abduction
The National Association of Nurses and Midwives (NANM), Kastina state chapter, has announced the withdrawal of services across frontline local government areas of the state.
The NANM Chairman, Mr. Nura Mu’azu, announced this while briefing newsmen in Katsina on Tuesday, citing the attack and abduction of their colleagues.
“It’s with deep sorrow and bleeding hearts that we address you today, being the 14th day since the abduction of our innocent member, Mr. Yusuf Mohammed-Mairuwa.
“He’s one of the most hardworking, skilled and vastly experienced professionals in Katsina State Health Sector. He was abducted while on duty saving lives at General Hospital Kankara on Jan. 15, 2025.
“He was taken away alongside other health workers to an unknown destination, and their whereabouts and condition remained unknown.
“He fell victim while in the line of duty, and this has aggravated the fear in every health worker serving in the frontline and vulnerable areas,” Mu’azu said.
Mu’azu stated that the development had proven beyond any reasonable doubt that no healthcare worker is safe despite their immeasurable sacrifices to society and humanity.
The NANM Chairman stated that “the situation has equally scratched the scar/wound that we all have from related cases such as the killing of our late colleague, Murtala Isah Safana, working then with the General Hospital Dutsin-ma.
“He was killed by gunmen in 2022, and the attack on Hamza Saleh (a registered ophthalmic nurse) while on his way to Workaround Yan-Tumaki junction, as a result of which he lost his right eye forever.
“Also, the wife of one of our colleagues, Mustafa Hamza, was abducted when she took food to him while he was on duty at General Hospital Kurfi, where he had to sell his properties and pay N5 million ransom.”
He further recalled that the association had written formally to the state government through the Hospital Management Board and copied all the relevant offices to provide security in the hospitals across the frontline and vulnerable areas.
Mu’azu added that they gave the government two weeks to comply or risk the withdrawal of their members from the hospitals in Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibia, Dutsin-ma, Musawa, Malumfashi, Funtua, and even Batagarawa.
The NANM chairman, who noted that the state government earlier promised to provide security within three days in the frontline areas within seven days, lamented that no practical commitment was seen from the government.
“We want the general public to know that we are left with no other option as the troubling situation is not showing any sign of improvement. We have been calling for the provision of security in the hospitals for years.
“We are sure that the bad news of the ransom demand on our abducted colleagues is all over social media, in which about N540 million is being demanded for their release.
“Where on earth can innocent families/relations get this kind of money when people are even struggling to put food on the table?
“How much is the salary of health workers in the state to afford these unrealistic sums when many health professionals have to helplessly leave the service en masse on a daily basis for better remunerations elsewhere?” he asked.
He further listed part of the demands of the union as the immediate provision of 24/7 robust security in all the hospitals in the aforementioned areas and immediate measures to ensure the safe release of their colleague and other captives.
The association also demanded immediate compensation to their members who were subjected to one loss or the other due to insecurity while on duty.
“We are also demanding better remuneration to attract more health workers for better healthcare delivery. Therefore, we are withdrawing our members from the aforementioned facilities effective from Jan. 30, 2025, until the needful is done,” the association declared.
Katsina Health Workers Down Tools Over Colleagues’ Abduction is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
