Okorocha Shuts Imo General Hospitals, Doctors, Patients Affected

The Imo State Government, on Sunday, locked up all its General
Hospitals in state with the aid of suspected thugs and chased all the
workers out thereby denying people access to healthcare services.

The affected General Hospitals were in Aboh Mbaise, Umuguma,
Awo-Ommama, Arondizuogu, Ngor-Okpala, Ogwa.

Governor Rochas Okorocha had earlier announced the concession of
health institutions, including primary health centres in the rural
areas, as well as over 17 parastatals in the state.

Daily Times gathered that the state security outfit, the Imo Security
Network, invaded different hospitals and forced every staff and
patients out the hospitals.

When Daily Times visited Umuguma Specialist Hospital, in Owerri West
Local Government Area, on Monday, fracas broke out between the
leadership of the organised labour and operatives of Imo Security
Network, when the labour union officials tried to reopen the hospital.

They later over-powered the men of Imo Security Network, led by former
commissioner for Public Utilities, Dr. Ifeanyi Nwachukwu.

Confirming the incident, the State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC), Mr. Austin Chilakpu, expressed shocked that the state
government could embark on such a move when the Federal Ministry of
Labour through Industrial Arbitration Panel had intervened on the
concession.

He said that the state government was directed to discuss the fate of
workers with the organsed labour and report back for further
discussion.

While Okorocha has embarked on building 27 general hospitals, the
existing state owned hospitals were in the state of despair, while the
state government had, for a long time stopped funding them.

Reacting, the Chairman Task Force on Health and former Commissioner
for Health, Dr. Edward Ihejirika, admitted that the state government
had closed down the hospitals to carry out renovations in them ahead
of the takeover by the concessioneers.

Chairman of the Hospital Workers Welfare Association, Mrs. Ngozi
Onyeaka, said the lock out was as a result of the workers refusing the
concesssioning of the hospitals.

It was gathered that the workers were being owed 12 months' salary,
four months in arrears from 2014 and eight months in 2015.

-DailyTimes