By Leonard Okachie
The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) on Thursday stormed the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, to monitor and ensure full compliance with the ongoing nationwide strike.
The members, carrying canes and led by the leadership of the union, went to different offices and chased out other members who were on duty.
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The JOHESU team comprising Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN ) and Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), insisted that the strike would continue until their demands were met.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the Federal Ministry of Health had issued ‘no work, no pay’ directive to all Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Government hospitals, starting Jan. 2026.
The health workers displayed placards with different inscriptions such as : “JOHESU strike, no justice, no retreat,” CONHESS adjustment is sacrosanct, no going back”, among others.
The Abia Chairman of NUAHP, Mr Chibueze Oparaocha, said that his union and MHWUN, being the two major unions representing JOHESU at FMC, Umuahia, decided to monitor and ensure full compliance at the facility.
“It is statutory that we go round from time to time and ensure that there is full compliance.
“We followed due process before embarking on this strike and if we don’t get justice we will continue to struggle,” he said.
Also, the State Chairman of MHWUN, Mr Solomon Offor, said that the union was at the hospital to enforce the ongoing strike that started on Nov. 15, 2025.
He said that the union was demanding the implementation of the 12-year-old adjusted Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
“We know that negotiations are ongoing between the national directorate of JOHESU and the Federal Ministry of Health, but if we enforce this strike, it will push the government to do the needful,” Offor said.
The Chairperson of MHWUN at FMC, Umuahia, Mrs Commy Okonkwo, who expressed satisfaction at the compliance rate, thanked members for their cooperation and commitment.
She berated some members who sabotage the effort of the union, saying it was because of them that the team decided to monitor and enforce compliance.
“The compliance is quite encouraging and I’m hopeful that the government will listen to our demand and do the needful,” she said.(NAN)
