By Haruna Gimba with agency report
The National Industrial Court, Abuja, has ordered the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), to suspend its 46 days strike and return to work immediately.
The court gave the order on Friday and also ordered that parties should return to the negotiation table in order to resolve their differences.
The presiding judge, Justice Bashar Alkali in his ruling said made an interlocutory injunction restraining members of the respondent in all 36 states of the Federation from further continuing with the industrial action embarked on August 2.
“I also make an order of interlocutory injunction compelling all members of the respondent in all the 36 states of the Federation to suspend the said industrial the action it commenced on August 2” the judge said.
Justice Alkali further stated that the court had one issue to resolve in the matter and that was whether or not the claimant’s application met the requirement on which interlocutory injunctions were made.
He stated one of the grounds which such requirement application must be made was in the circumstance that if not granted, serious damages to lives could occur.
He, therefore, said that lives had been lost since the commencement of the strike, especially in regards to the COVID-19 Delta variant, hence the need to grant the claimant’s application.
The judge in conclusion urged the claimants to grant some if not all of the defendant’s demands at the negotiation table.
He said the case file will be reassigned by the President of the court and a new date for the hearing of the substantive suit will be communicated to parties.
The claimants, Ministry of Health and the Federal Government through the Ministry of Labour and Employment had approached the court through a motion on notice dated August 18 and filed August 21.
The application which was predicated on three grounds had in support a 10-paragraph affidavit, filed with a written address and was attached with four annexes.
The claimants in its an application had sought for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining and compelling members of the respondent in all States of the Federation from further continuing and suspending the industrial action embarked on August 2.
The defendant in response had also filed a 17-page counter- affidavit with a written address filed on August 31.
The defendant had urged the court to disregard the claimant’s application as the demand for the protection of its members was equally important
