Ogun State’s health sector has been thrown into turmoil after a dramatic clash at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, where a young female House Officer was allegedly beaten by a group of students right inside the hospital premises

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors NARD is painting a grim picture, claiming that about seven men believed to be students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic Saapade descended on the doctor after a patient died at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency unit

NARD has branded the incident shocking barbaric and a gross violation of human dignity insisting that the attack exposes what it calls deep security and institutional failures in Nigeria’s health system

According to the association the House Officer was allegedly singled out after being identified as one of the doctors who attended to the deceased patient.

 The hospital which should be a place of healing was turned into what NARD dramatically described as a battleground of violence

In a swift and hardline response NARD has ordered all its members at OOUTH including House Officers to immediately withdraw their services until they receive what they consider concrete assurances of safety The association is presenting this as a zero tolerance stance on any form of assault against medical personnel regardless of the impact on patients

NARD is demanding the urgent identification arrest and prosecution of everyone involved in the attack It insists that the management of Gateway ICT Polytechnic must work hand in hand with security agencies to fish out the alleged culprits accept responsibility for the conduct of its students foot the full bill for the doctor’s treatment and pay compensation

The association is also putting OOUTH management on the spot calling for a total overhaul of hospital security tighter access control and what it describes as proactive measures to prevent a repeat of such incidents NARD links this latest clash to a broader pattern in which doctors already complaining of delayed pay and crushing workloads now say they are being left physically exposed on duty

In a clear warning shot NARD has pledged full solidarity with its members in Sagamu and is openly threatening that if its demands are not met the dispute could quickly spread beyond the hospital and snowball into a regional or even nationwide industrial crisis

While extending sympathy to the assaulted doctor the association is using the incident to push a wider message urging governments at all levels to prioritise the protection of healthcare workers and enforce strict penalties for violence in medical facilities NARD insists that the safety of doctors is non negotiable and is framing this latest confrontation as proof that an attack on one health worker is an attack on all