Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Elegant Nurses Forum has issued a strong demand for the immediate arrest and prosecution of a patient's relative who was captured on video assaulting a Chief Nursing Officer at the State Hospital, Adeoyo, Ibadan, Oyo State, describing the attack as "shameful, barbaric and inhumane" while threatening industrial action if the government fails to address the growing wave of violence against healthcare workers. In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Nurse Thomas Abiodun Olamide, on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, the forum condemned the assault, which was recorded and has since gone viral on social media, showing the nurse being physically assaulted, humiliated and dehumanised while the alleged attacker filmed the incident. The group said the attack has sparked outrage among nurses and other Nigerians, warning that violence against healthcare workers must not be normalised under any circumstances.
According to the forum, the nurses on duty at the hospital had already attended to patients within the scope of their responsibilities and were simply waiting for the doctor on call to continue consultations when the incident occurred. The group attributed the delay in treatment to an acute shortage of medical personnel, alleging that no doctor was immediately available at the hospital at the time because of severe manpower challenges. The forum also said the nursing unit was operating under severe staff shortages, leaving a few nurses to handle overwhelming workloads, a situation that has become all too familiar in Nigeria's underfunded public health sector. "It is unacceptable that a health worker who reported to work to save lives became the victim of violence simply because of the failure of government to adequately fund and staff the healthcare system," the statement read.
The forum argued that the assaulted nurse was unfairly blamed for circumstances beyond her control, questioning what exactly the nurse was expected to do when there was no doctor available to attend to the patient. "We ask: What exactly was the Nurse expected to do? Was she supposed to magically produce a doctor?" the statement added, highlighting the absurdity of blaming frontline health workers for systemic failures. The ENF noted that nurses across Nigeria continue to work under difficult conditions, citing inadequate manpower, poor infrastructure, insufficient equipment, excessive workloads, poor remuneration, delayed promotions, unpaid allowances and psychological stress as persistent challenges that have driven many healthcare professionals to seek opportunities abroad, worsening the brain drain crisis. The forum warned that healthcare workers had increasingly become targets of harassment and physical attacks whenever patients or their relatives became frustrated with the country's failing healthcare system.
While acknowledging the frustrations experienced by patients and their families, the forum insisted that violence against health workers could never be justified, urging members of the public to direct their grievances toward government authorities responsible for healthcare funding, recruitment and workforce planning. The group called on the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State to immediately investigate the incident, arrest the alleged attacker and ensure prosecution in accordance with the law. It also urged the Oyo State Government and the Ministry of Health to urgently recruit more nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals to address critical manpower shortages across public hospitals. The ENF further asked hospital management to strengthen security measures within healthcare facilities to protect health workers from physical attacks and intimidation.
The forum also called on the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and other labour unions to defend the assaulted nurse and take a firm stand against the rising tide of violence against healthcare workers. It urged nurses in Oyo State to embark on industrial action until the assault is properly addressed, saying such action would serve as a powerful deterrent against future attacks on healthcare workers. "Violence against one Nurse is violence against the entire healthcare workforce," the statement declared, as the forum appealed to civil society organisations, human rights groups, women's rights organisations, legal advocacy groups, student bodies and community leaders to demand accountability over the incident. It further called on the federal and state governments to strengthen laws criminalising violence against healthcare workers and ensure strict enforcement of existing legal protections, warning that without decisive action, the healthcare system would continue to bleed talent and the safety of health workers would remain at risk.
The assault on the Chief Nursing Officer at Adeoyo Hospital is the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting healthcare workers across Nigeria, where understaffing, poor funding and deteriorating working conditions have created a powder keg of frustration that too often explodes against frontline medical personnel. Just weeks earlier, in May 2026, the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors condemned a similar attack at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where a relative of a deceased patient assaulted doctors and a nurse, leading to a three-day strike. The repeated attacks have prompted calls for stricter laws and better enforcement, with medical associations pushing for the criminalisation of violence against healthcare workers. As the Elegant Nurses Forum threatens industrial action, the Oyo State Government and the police face mounting pressure to act swiftly and decisively, or risk a full-scale shutdown of public hospitals across the state.
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