FMC Owo doctors protest alleged assaults on health workers, demanding prosecution of attackers and improved hospital security

Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre Owo staged a peaceful protest on Monday following the alleged assault of one of their colleagues by relatives of a patient, demanding stronger security measures and swift prosecution of perpetrators.

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The demonstration was organised by the Association of Resident Doctors, FMC Owo Branch, whose members accused authorities of failing to adequately address repeated attacks on doctors and other healthcare workers within the hospital.

Chanting solidarity songs around the hospital premises, the protesters carried placards bearing messages such as “Say no to violence against healthcare workers” and “The hands that heal should not bleed.”

Speaking during the protest, the Chairman of the association, Dr. Oluwadamilola Adeola, described the action as a sensitisation campaign aimed at drawing attention to what he called a recurring pattern of assaults against health personnel.

According to Adeola, the hospital has recorded at least three or four incidents of attacks on healthcare workers this year alone, with some cases allegedly going unreported.

“It has been recurring. This year alone, we have had about three or four cases. Some are even unreported. We are standing to sensitise our people that enough is enough to assault health workers,” he said.

Adeola said the association was demanding the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for the latest assault, deployment of armed security personnel to hospital entrances, and a public apology from the alleged attackers.

He added that the FMC Owo Doctors Protest was also intended to highlight safety concerns at the hospital’s Akure annex, where resident doctors are currently on industrial action.

“Currently, we are on strike at our Akure annex because our people there do not feel safe. We do not have armed security personnel there and the gate is porous. We want the management to address this urgently,” he said.

The ARD chairman further alleged that a previous assault case involving a healthcare worker had not been adequately addressed despite the victim reportedly requiring hospitalisation. He claimed that the individual involved had also made threats against medical personnel.

“We cannot wait until a doctor is killed,” Adeola stated, warning that the association could not guarantee industrial harmony if urgent steps were not taken to improve security.

Also addressing the protesters, Senior Registrar in the Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Dotun Odumade, said the demonstration was intended to raise awareness about violence against healthcare workers and promote the use of lawful channels for resolving grievances.

Odumade stressed that hospitals should remain places of peace and healing, adding that dissatisfied patients or relatives should utilise established complaint mechanisms rather than resort to violence.

“We want increased awareness within the hospital and community that the hospital is a place of serenity. There is no room for jungle justice.

If patients or relatives are not satisfied with care, there are proper channels for complaints and redress,” he said.

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The protest underscores growing concerns among healthcare professionals over workplace safety and comes amid renewed calls for stronger protection of medical personnel across Nigeria’s health sector.