The Federal Medical Centre, FMC Lokoja in Kogi State has been shut down following an attack by hoodlums.
State secretary of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr Okungbowa Osaretin who confirmed this Said the hospital is the only functional tertiary health care facility in the state.
Hoodlums on Wednesday stormed the premises of the hospital and vandalized some offices carting away some equipment and personal valuables belonging to the workers.
Staff had planned to stage a peaceful protest over their safety in the hospital as a result of the handling of covid-19 in the state when the unknown hoodlums came into the hospital premise and disrupted the protest.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Police Command has reacted to the attack on the facilities of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja. Commissioner of Police, Ede Ayuba Ekpeji said he visited the scene for on-the-spot assessment and an equally deployed team of operatives to the area to reassure the staff of the hospital of their safety.
While the police say they have commenced an investigation into the attack under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the Kogi State Government described the attack as an unfortunate scuffle between the staff of the hospital and some patients’ relatives.
It says its preliminary findings revealed that the violence ensued when relations of patients in the medical facility protested against the failure of the management of the hospital to attend to them.
It explains that many people in the Emergency Ward were left unattended to while a mother delivered at the gate of the hospital leading to a lot of public tension in the State.
State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo in a statement said tension started building since Tuesday when patients and their relatives learnt of a plan by the hospital workers to stage a protest to seek protection from Covid-19.
He says the State Government will carry out further investigations to ascertain the remote causes of the breach of peace by the protesters and also address their fears.
