The National Industrial Court sitting in Abuja has restrained health workers under the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals from continuing or embarking on any strike action.
According to a statement from the Federal Ministry of Health on Friday, the judge, B.B. Kanyip, said the union should put the strike on hold, pending the determination of a suit filed by the ministry against the union.
The respondent (Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals) and its agents, privies of any person(s) claiming through it is hereby restrained from continuing in the strike action pending the determination of the substantive suit already filed on this action, the statement quoted the judge to have said.
He determined that the respondent is an essential service provider, and thus restrained from proceeding with the strike action.
The ministry had on March 10 filed a motion praying the respondents to be restrained from continuing on their strike action.
Delivering his ruling, the presiding judge noted that the union was put on notice and served the appropriate processes for Friday’s hearing but chose not to make any appearance.
The NUAHP, had earlier put Nigeria’s federal government on notice that its members would go on strike after February 27, if it fails to address the rot in the health system.
If nothing is done against the flagrant display of lawlessness, perversion of justice and the rot in the health sector accounting for millions of preventable pains and death in Nigeria before 27th February, 2017 the union will be left with no other option than to declare a strike action, Ogbonna Obinna, president of the union had said.
Source: PremiumTimesNg, HWN Africa.
: 2017-03-17 19:02:36 | : 1666