Protesters Shut FCT General Hospitals As Private Guards Demand Four Months Unpaid Salaries
Protests again erupted across the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday as private security guards shut down services at several general hospitals over four months of unpaid salaries.
Gates at Nyanya, Zuba and Kubwa General Hospitals were blocked, leaving patients stranded outside while health workers were locked out. The guards, hired through private security contractors engaged by the FCT administration, chanted solidarity songs and vowed not to return to duty until all outstanding wages were paid.
“We can’t keep working without pay. Our families are suffering,” one protester said.
The guards had staged similar demonstrations three weeks earlier over the same issue. This time, the disruption was more severe.
A manager with one of the affected companies described the situation as “unsustainable,” saying he had taken a bank loan to keep his operations afloat. “I borrowed N10 million from Zenith Bank just to maintain our deployment. I expected repayment once the FCTA released funds. The deadline has passed and my staff are still unpaid. This is unfortunate,” he said.
Officials at the FCT Department of Health Services insist the minister, Nyesom Wike, has already released funds covering 12 months of arrears owed to the security companies. But the guards say they have received nothing.
“If the ministry has paid, where is our money?” a guard asked. “Some of us can barely feed our children.”
A senior Civil Defence officer confirmed the minister had indeed released the payments and questioned why the firms were yet to disburse them.
Efforts to reach the director of reform coordination and service improvement, Jumai Ahmadu, were unsuccessful.
Tempers flared as patients attempted to negotiate access into the hospitals, with many blaming the authorities for allowing the crisis to escalate. “People’s lives are at stake. This should never have happened,” a visibly frustrated patient said.
Health workers urged the FCT administration to intervene immediately, warning that the shutdown was worsening pressure on Abuja’s already overstretched healthcare system. They appealed to the minister to compel the contractors to pay the guards so normal operations can resume.
