FMC Owo Nurses Strike enters full shutdown as nurses suspend all patient care for seven days to protest poor welfare and unmet demands by Federal Government
FMC Owo Nurses Strike has paralyzed medical services at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, as nurses launched a seven-day total shutdown in protest of longstanding welfare neglect.
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According to Mr. Coker Oluwasegun, secretary of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), FMC Owo chapter, the strike will spare no patient, regardless of emergency status.
“It is total compliance—no leeway whatsoever,” Oluwasegun stated during a Thursday interview. “This is a wake-up call. The Federal Government has unfairly treated nurses for too long.”
The protest is rooted in deep-seated grievances, including stagnant allowances and dire working conditions. The uniform allowance, unchanged at ₦20,000 annually for over two decades, is just one example.
“Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system, yet we’re constantly sidelined. Equipment shortages and harsh environments lead to poor patient outcomes, and we get wrongly blamed,” he lamented.
Despite notifying FMC Owo’s management, the strike targets Federal Government policies, not hospital leadership.
The nurses’ union listed 12-point demands, warning that failure to meet them would trigger a 21-day ultimatum followed by an indefinite strike.
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This bold move reflects a rising tide of unrest across Nigeria’s health sector and signals that nurses are no longer willing to work under broken promises.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
