Nigeria, Jan. 24 -- Hospitals across Nigeria are grappling with severe disruptions as the indefinite strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) continues into its third month, forcing patients to seek laboratory tests, drugs and other essential services outside public health facilities.

Visits by PREMIUM TIMES reporters to hospitals in Akwa Ibom, Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Abuja and Lagos states show a health system running on skeletal services, with key departments shut and overstretched doctors and nurses struggling to fill gaps left by striking health workers.

The impact of the strike may deepen further after the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Friday issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Fe...