The Kano State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Amina Abdullahi HOD, has dared the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) in the state to go on strike, denying allegations of assault on a female doctor.
Abdullahi made the denial in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Monday after the NMA called for her dismissal over the Saturday midnight incident at the Emergency Paediatric Unit of Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital.
The NMA had issued an ultimatum to the Kano State Government, calling for the immediate dismissal of the Commissioner, following her alleged assault on a female doctor.
The NMA, in a statement, said the altercation reportedly stemmed from the unavailability of a prescribed medication, a matter outside the doctor’s control, as she was managing over 100 patients alone.
Following the despicable act, the NMA Kano threatened to suspend medical services at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital within 48 hours if their demands were not met.
Reacting, however, the accused commissioner retorted, “Let them go on strike now! They are not the ones that appointed me. My office is the humanitarian office.”.
The commissioner, who accused the health worker of negligence, narrated how she was ignored by the staff when she intervened in a situation where a patient could not get prompt treatment.
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“I cannot even recognize her voice; I don’t know what she looks like because she did not respond to me.
“Somebody called me—her patient—she was knocking on the door of the nurse; the nurse locked the door and refused to attend to the patient. And the patient was fainting. I rushed from a wedding to the hospital.
“When I got there, I met her on the table, attending to patients… I greeted her; she didn’t respond. I greeted her secondly, but she didn’t respond. Then the third time I said, Nurse, what is going on here?
“Then she looked at me up and down, folded her arms on her chest, and went to her office and banged the door of her office. I went to my car stranded, and I was provoked.” She narrated.
Denying any personal confrontation with the doctor, Abdullahi said she called the Commissioner for Health and Secretary to the State Government, who did not receive her calls until the matter escalated.
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According to her, “I called the commissioner for health five times; he didn’t respond. I called the SSG; he didn’t respond to my call.
“Later on, she called her husband and the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) of the hospital. They went directly to the door and knocked on the door. I don’t know what they discussed.”
The commissioner noted that the chief medical officer and chief security officer acknowledged the wrongdoings of the doctor and were instructed by the commissioner to submit a report recommending her punishment.
“Then the health commissioner called me back. I started narrating what was going on, and I said, See the CMO of the hospital; he can narrate better to you. The CMO and the Chief Security narrated all that happened, and then the commissioner gave an instruction that early in the morning on Monday, they should write a report and bring it to him for her (the doctor) to be punished. That was all I knew.” She explained.