On Thursday, nurses at Ogun State Hospital in Ijaye, Abeokuta, took to the streets to protest the alleged assault of a final-year nursing student by a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Adekunle Nurudeen. Despite the rain, the nurses marched with placards demanding justice and chanting slogans such as “End bullying of nurses” and “Zero tolerance for nurses bullying.”

According to reports, the incident happened on September 24 in the hospital’s operating room, where Dr. Nurudeen allegedly slapped the student nurse. The nurses claim that they have tried to resolve the issue through the appropriate government channels but have seen no positive action taken so far.

Nurses from across Ogun State joined the protest to show their solidarity, expressing outrage over what they consider to be unethical conduct by the surgeon. The demonstration was led by Comrade Adejoke Bello, the state Chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM). Bello stressed that such actions are in violation of public service rules, and she demanded that Dr. Nurudeen be held accountable for his behavior.

She said, “The peaceful demonstration is to register our dissatisfaction and displeasure over an unethical practice of a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon with Ogun State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, Nurudeen Adekunle who slapped a final year student nurse precisely on September 24.

“This is assault and it is against the public rule service, this should not have happened under whatever circumstances. It is a gross misconduct for you to have slapped your subordinate at work. So we are here to say that the entire nurses in Ogun State won’t tolerate this.

“This ordinarily should not have degenerated to this level of protest but we have written to the appropriate quarters since last Monday and gave them 48 hours to address this unfortunate incident but we have heard nothing from them, especially the management of this Hospital, they have not called us, so we are left with no choice than to mobilise for this peaceful protest.

“We have told our nurses to go back to work but we have given the management of the hospital four hours to get back to us in black and white just as we have equally done to register our dissatisfaction over the poor treatment.”

Lola Falujo, the Unit Chairman of NANNM at the State Hospital, also condemned the alleged assault. She emphasized that bullying and threats against nurses must stop, as these actions create a hostile work environment and negatively affect patient care.

Falujo said: “We condemn the action of Dr Adekunle who assaulted one of our student nurses and was even threatening him saying that if he heard anything about the incident outside he would ensure that the student won’t graduate.”

In response to the protest, the Permanent Secretary of the Hospital Management Board, Dr. Olayinka Elemide, addressed the crowd. He assured the nurses that the government is fully aware of the situation and has already begun taking steps to investigate and resolve the matter.

Elemide said, “The government is aware of this situation and already making steps to ensure that due process is followed. The doctor and the student nurse are both in the care of the government, so we are on top of the situation.”

The nurses have made it clear that they want justice for their colleague and a commitment to end the culture of bullying in the healthcare system. They hope that this protest will bring about positive changes and ensure that nurses are treated with respect and dignity.