By Asma’u Ahmad
The Borno chapter of the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) said its members would not participate in the nationwide strike which schedule to start on Monday, June 20.
The state acting President of the Association, Dr. Muhammad Abdullahi, made the state chapter’s position known in a statement issued to newsmen in Maiduguri. The statement said the association opt out of the strike because majority of inhabitants of the 27 local government areas of Borno are currently residing in Internally Displaced Persons’ camps in Maiduguri.
“Two days ago, about 200 victims with different ailments were freed from captivity within Bama town and its environs, all receiving care in our facility. Maiduguri is a war theatre comprising men of the Nigeria Army who need all our support in terms of provision of healthcare services.
“It should also be noted that University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital is the only hospital serving not only Borno but serves as reference centre for other states in the Northeast, bedevilled by Boko Haram insurgency,” the statement read. ‘
He said it is in the light of these that the state’s chapter of the association is calling on the leadership of NARD to look into the plight of the people of Borno as it exempts itself from the nationwide strike.
