(Lokoja)
Journalists in kogi state have resolved to henceforth boycott the activities of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) for the chapter’s inconsistency in communication.
The journalists made their feeling known in a statement signed by their Chairman, Alhaji Momohjimoh Adeiza and the Secretary, Ademu Seidu in Lokoja on Tuesday.
The Nigeria union Journalists, union,the state council which expressed disappointed that an association of the status of NMA could deny statement issued and signed by the body, called on the chapter to “toe the part of honour by taking responsibility for it’s actions.
The union said while quoting a release by the chapter:“Our attention has been drawn to a refutal by NMA in its statement on the non testing by the Kogi State Government to ascertain the level of COVID-19 in the state.
” In the words of the NMA, “Because of this high level of suspicions, doctors prefer to rule out COVID-19 in patients they considered as high risk before proceeding to manage them for their clinical conditions.
“The inability of the state to test or follow laid down protocols, in order to exclude COVID-19 may lead to needless death of patients presenting with other clinical conditions, due to neglect by HCWs.
“It should be noted, that if doctors should attend to one unknown case of COVID-19 in the hospital settings, it may spread to many HCWs and their families.”
The NUJ noted that it would have been better and more honourable for the association to simply apologize to the government, when it found out that the statement was not correct, instead of putting journalists, simply doing their jobs at the receiving end.
“The union commended the state government for being proactive in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the state, a development it noted had made Kogi one of the states yet to record any single case.”
The union, however, called on the the state government to extend support to Kogi journalists who have been in the forefront of the fight against the dreaded Coronavrus.
