By Chioma Obinna & Gabriel Olawale
LAGOS — Despite  Lagos State Government’s claims that it is open for negotiations with the sacked doctors, the affected doctors resident in official quarters have been issued eviction notice.

The eviction notice dated May 8, 2012, and signed by Secretary, Staff Housing Board for the Head of Service, Mr. L. A. Shoyemi, directed all doctors to immediately vacate their official residence with immediate effect.

The letter stated: “Consequent upon your dismissal from the service of the Lagos State government with effect from May 4, 2012 and in accordance with the Civil Service Rule 13115, (a)’No officer shall continue to occupy state government quarters after the date on which his resignation/dismissal takes effect.’

“I wish to request you to vacate the state government staff quarter allocated to you immediately. In view of the above, you are hereby requested to submit the keys to the quarters to the Secretary of Staff Housing Board to forestall forceful ejection.”

It was also gathered that the affected doctors have been given up till 5 am today to vacate the staff quarters.

Reacting to the development, shortly after the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, congress at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, the firstt Vice Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Johnson Emene, criticised the move to evict the sacked doctors from the official quarters, saying they are covered by the tenancy law which the state signed nine months ago.

According to Emene, the state tenancy law states that tenants should be given at least six months’ eviction notice, adding that the NMA has instructed the doctors to ignore the quit notice.

Emene told Vanguard that the leadership of the national body of NMA was at press time meeting with  Governor Babatunde  Fashola to find a lasting solution to the current crisis in the state.

New doctors yet to resume

Meanwhile, the hope of patients to access care after the Lagos State Government claimed that it has recruited over 373 new doctors into the health service of the state after it sacked 788 doctors may have been dashed as investigation yesterday revealed that the presence of newly recruited doctors is yet to be felt as patients have deserted state-owned hospitals.

When our correspondent visited some of the hospitals, no doctor was in sight to attend to the few patients present at the hospital.

At Gbagada General Hospital, nurses and some other health workers who were at their duty posts said attendance had since dropped since the strike began. One of the nurses who spoke to Vanguard said new doctors were yet to begin work at the hospital.

“Unlike when the strike started that patients were still coming, patients are no more coming here. Infact no one has come in two days to this ward. Some new doctors were deployed here but they cannot attend to anyone because patients are not here. At the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja only two doctors were on duty. Also, new patients were being admitted at the Accident and Emergency ward. One of the new doctors that was deployed to the medical emergency unit of the hospital said that although work had commenced, patients were still not coming as they had expected.

Meanwhile, there are contradicting report about the number oif doctors that have been employed so far. Investigation by Vanguard revealed that about 97 casual doctors have been employed against the reported 373 doctors the government claimed it had been employed.