Medical interns with the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, have been evicted from their apartments by the management over their protest for the payment of their eight months salaries The medical interns in the Nigerian military hospitals had embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of their salaries. 

 

It was gathered that some of the interns were not allowed to take out their belongings before soldiers locked up their apartments, according report from The Punch One of them, Dr. Jinadu, said that they had been suffering from inhumane treatment by the various military commands in the country and had no option than to embark on strike. He said, “All of us who are serving with the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Yaba, have been chased out of our apartments. They gave us short notice and we could not even pack our belongings before the doors were locked.

 

Some of us were having our rest when the soldiers opened our doors and chased us out. “Some of us are not staying in Lagos and we do not have where to stay. Where should we go to? Because we decided to ask for our salaries, they decided to chase us out. We had no grouse with the hospital or with the management, we are not happy that we are not at work. But for how long will it be that we have been working for eight months and we are not being paid?

 

“These are the issues, we are illegally evicted. The soldiers that came to evict us said they were directed to do so by the Director of the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Major General Nkado. They have sealed our property inside. They even nearly burgled us out by force; they said our services are no longer needed after eight months of working. It was the ministry of defence that posted us here. We are 55 in this place.

 

“But we believe they do not have the right to disengage us from service. We want to finish our internship but we also want to be paid. We are suffering a lot. We are not settled here. The patients in the hospital want us to come back.”