1,500 OAUTH Employees Stage Protest Over Job Losses

The sacked staff of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC), Ile-Ife, on Friday, staged a protest on the hospital’s premises to challenge the management’s decision to let them go.

Naija News gathered that the Federal Government dismissed more than 1500 hospital employees, citing alleged irregularities in the hiring process.

The protest was in response to a hospital management circular that announced examinations for specific cadres being a prerequisite for employment consideration.

The Public Relations Officer for OAUTHC, Kemi Fasoto, confirmed to reporters that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare will conduct the examination on the planned date.

The protesters, advocating for the examination to be put on hold, effectively sealed off the hospital’s main access, disrupting the movement of pedestrians and vehicles alike.

One of the terminated workers, Samson Falope, informed the journalists that a notice indicated the test is scheduled for March 9 at Command Day Secondary School, located in the Army Barrack, Ede, Osun.

Falope highlighted that the release of a circular regarding recruitment exercises under the June 2022 waiver prompted the protest, with notifications sent to the relevant ministry, the House of Representatives, and the National Assembly, in anticipation of their intervention to resolve the issue, expressing optimism for the indefinite suspension of the examination.