Medical interns in Nigerian military hospitals have embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their salaries for eight months.

The protesters, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday, said that they had been suffering inhumane treatment from the various military commands in the country. According to them, they have no option than to resort to strike.

One of the protesters, who simply identified himself as Dr. Peter because he was afraid of being victimised, said that since they had started their compulsory one-year internship programme about eight months ago, they had yet to be paid their salaries.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, he said, “We are medical interns doing our compulsory one-year internship programme with the various military command hospitals under the Ministry of Defence, including military hospitals in Ikoyi and Yaba, Lagos; Army Hospital in Kaduna; Airforce Hospital in Ikeja, Lagos, and the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital, Ojoo, Lagos.

“We are protesting to make the Federal Government aware of our plight. We have been working for the past eight months after receiving our letters of appointments from the military hospitals in Lagos and Kaduna. And despite the Ebola outbreak and the recent Nigerian Medical Association strike, we have been the ones that have been on duty; we didn’t go on strike all through the period.

“It is, however, unfortunate that during this period of our eight-month internship, we have not got any signal of when our salaries are going to be paid. In fact, some of our senior colleagues, who have completed their eight-month internship, have also not been paid a dime till date.

“We have made efforts to reach out to our various employers. We have written to them officially. We have also written several letters to the Ministry of Defence, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Airforce and also to the Director of Medical Services of the Nigerian Navy, but nothing has been done.”

Another protester, who simply identified himself as Dr. Chinedu, said, “We can no longer fold our hands. We want to be rescued. And even for our senior colleagues that they have paid, they cut the salaries. Some of them told us that they experienced variations in the amount being paid them. This is unfair to us. They got no pay slips and there is no transparency in the whole issue.”