16th May, 2012
The Lagos State chapter of the Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Lagos State government to recall the 787 doctors recently sacked for embarking on strike.
The human right group described the state government’s action as anti-people, saying that several efforts made by it and other well meaning Nigerians to resolve the dispute were frustrated by the government.
Comrade Isiak O. Buna, the state chairman of CDHR in a statement said: “The CDHR feels highly disheartened over the recent decision of the Lagos State government to sack 787 doctors in its employment.
“Our organisation regards this decision as highly anti-people and condemnable in its entirety, especially in the light of several interventions by groups and individuals to resolve the dispute between the doctors and the state government.”
Buna explained that when his group met the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Jide Idris, he promised to communicate the CDHR’s position on the dispute to Governor Babatunde Fashola.
“We were still waiting to hear from the governor when we learnt of the sack of the doctors. We are surprised that the doctors were sacked when the dispute between them and the government was still pending before the National Industrial Court,” he stated.
Buna decried the sacking of the doctors and called on the state House of Assembly to intervene in the matter to avoid a mass action that would follow at the expiration of the seven-day ultimatum.