By Sarah NEGEDU
Nurses in the Federal Capital Territory have raised alarm over worsening insecurity, after a nurse at the Wuse General Hospital was attacked by suspected one-chance robbers and left in the Intensive Care Unit.
Narrating the incident in a statement on Wednesday, the FCT chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, said the nurse, who had completed her afternoon shift but remained behind to help stabilise a critically ill patient, was assaulted on her way home.
The statement signed by the chairman of the chapter, Jama Medan, condemning what they termed as another targeted attack on health workers in Abuja said the incident mirrors a previous case involving a health worker at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, which he noted has remained unresolved.
“The leadership and members of NANNM, FCT Chapter, strongly condemn, in the strongest possible terms, yet another brutal attack on an innocent nurse.”
Medan decried repeated attacks on nurses across Wuse, Asokoro, Kubwa, Maitama, Kuje and Gwarinpa, insisting the trend has become unacceptable and must be addressed urgently.
He therefore called for a full investigation into the worrisome trend, urging authorities to identify, arrest and prosecute those responsible.
According to him, protecting nurses and other health professionals should now be treated as a national priority.
He appealed to the FCT Minister to direct security agencies, including the Department of State Services, to step up surveillance around hospitals and ensure regular patrols at vulnerable bus stops.
“No healthcare worker should risk their life simply for serving humanity,” he said.
The NANNM chairman warned that many nurses, especially women, no longer feel safe commuting to work, describing some bus stops around hospitals as “death traps”.
He said immediate and sustained action was needed to guarantee the safety of all healthcare workers in the FCT.
