Nigeria’s hospitals are increasingly becoming unsafe environments for the professionals tasked with providing care, as resident doctors warn that violence against healthcare workers is reaching alarming levels.
New data released by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) revealed that approximately 30 resident doctors were assaulted across the country within the past year.
According to the association, the attacks occurred in at least 21 separate incidents, indicating that a healthcare worker is assaulted roughly once every two weeks.
Despite the growing number of cases, justice has remained elusive. NARD disclosed that fewer than five incidents progressed to the courts, with only one assailant having been convicted.
The association noted that the violence extends beyond physical assaults. Doctors and nurses increasingly face threats, intimidation, harassment, emotional trauma, and even kidnapping within facilities that ought to provide safe spaces for treatment and recovery.
NARD National President, Dr. Muhammed Suleiman, described the situation as a direct threat to Nigeria’s healthcare system. He characterised the attacks as “intolerable, unacceptable, and dangerous to the survival of Nigeria’s healthcare system”, warning that insecurity is contributing to the migration of medical professionals in search of safer working environments.
“Intolerable, unacceptable, and dangerous to the survival of Nigeria’s healthcare system,” Suleiman said, adding that the persistent attacks are exacerbating workforce shortages as more doctors contemplate relocating abroad.
The association stressed that violence against healthcare personnel has consequences beyond individual victims, disrupting patient care and undermining public confidence in hospitals.
NARD further declared that it would no longer remain silent while medical professionals are subjected to abuse and treated like criminals in institutions where they dedicate themselves to saving lives.
The association also said it was treating recent threats against one of its members with utmost seriousness, insisting that any harm inflicted on the doctor must be traced to the perpetrators and all parties connected to the incident.
Health experts maintained that strengthening security in hospitals has become imperative to curbing the exodus of skilled professionals and preserving critical manpower in Nigeria’s already overstretched health sector.
