The Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) on Wednesday issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Governor Nasir el-Rufai to recall the sacked nurses in the state.
The governor had on Tuesday ordered the prosecution of three nurses who allegedly disconnected the oxygen supply of a two-month-old baby in a hospital incubator in the state.
He also directed the sack of nurses, university lecturers and other workers who did not report for work or joined the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) strike on Tuesday.
But in a statement signed by its President, Biobelemoye Joy Josiah, MHWUN asked el-Rufai to tender an unreserved public apology to Nigerian workers.
Josiah described the governor’s actions as “barbaric and primitive.”
She accused Governor el-Rufai of disregarding extant labour laws and circulars that regulate the employment of public servants whose appointments are clothed with statutory flavour.
“We particularly call on all workers and citizens of Kaduna State to tag Tuesday, 18th May 2021 as a sad day for democracy and a day of mourning when an elected governor threw away the constitution he swore to uphold and embraced thuggery,” the statement which came after NLC suspended its strike reads.
“We call on the entire citizens of Kaduna State to particularly remember this day so that when this same man comes calling to beg for votes to go to the retirement home of former governors – the Senate or for any other elective position, he should be rejected out rightly as there is no room for anarchist in a democratic society.
“Meanwhile, we call on our members nationwide to remain alert and await further directives on this matter as ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ and injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.”
