Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State:

Normal medical and healthcare activities have resumed at Kogi Government-owned hospitals as the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has suspended its 11-day old strike.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who monitored the Kogi State Specialist Hospital (KSSH) Lokoja, on Monday reports that life had returned to the hospital.

NAN reports that some patients were seen waiting to be attended to by doctors at the Outpatient Department of the hospital.

Dr Abdulrahman Jafar, the President of Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), told NAN that they suspended the strike due to intervention from some traditional rulers and other eminent stakeholders.

“As you can see, I am presently at my duty post attending to patients; we thank God that the strike has been suspended.

“What we noticed during the strike and from our interaction from stakeholders is that there was communication gap between the government and the NMA.

“We also want to correct the notion that we are being used by politicians; no one can drag us into politics.

“We are professionals, and it is all about our welfare and justice,’’ Jafar said.

Mr Bamidele Osasuna, Chairman of the hospital’s chapter of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Professional Unions and Associations, also told NAN that the doctors suspended the strike for two weeks pending the outcome of negotiation with the government.

He added that patients had been receiving treatment in the hospital and doctors were on ground to attend to them.

On JAC, Osasuna said the committee had given the government till May 19, to resolve all issues regarding their demands so as to forestall an impending danger in the health sector.

One of the patients, Mr Akoh Ojone, told NAN that they were happy that the strike was suspended and commended the doctors for attending to them.

He urged both parties to honour any agreement reached in order to save lives, especially the poor who could not afford the high cost of bills at private hospitals across the state.