A professional body representing Nigerian nurses has raised an alarm over the treatment of a nurse allegedly assaulted at the High Court Judiciary Clinic in Ilaro, Ogun State, after she declined an instruction to sweep the clinic premises.
The Elegant Nurses Forum (ENF) says the nurse, who was posted to the clinic from the State Hospital, Ilaro, was allegedly verbally abused and later pushed by the court’s Principal Registrar, Mr. Omololu Davies, after she explained that cleaning duties fell outside her professional responsibilities as a registered nurse and midwife.
According to the Forum, a team of nursing leaders sent to mediate the dispute was also allegedly insulted before the Registrar locked the clinic and ordered the nurse to leave.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Nurse Thomas Abiodun Olamide, the ENF said the matter has since escalated: the nurse has been transferred from Ilaro to Ayetoro, a development the group describes as suspicious given that an earlier push for her suspension reportedly stalled following media attention.
“A transfer that places an employee in a location where she may spend a disproportionate part of her salary on transportation can have serious economic and personal consequences,” the group said, warning that the move could be seen as disguised punishment rather than routine administration.
The Forum has called on the Ogun State Government, under Attorney-General Hon. Oluwasina Olanrewaju Ogungbade, SAN, to justify the transfer and clarify the Ministry of Justice’s alleged role in the affair. It is demanding an independent investigation into both the alleged assault and the transfer, protection for the nurse against further retaliation, and disciplinary action against Davies if the allegations are confirmed.
The statement also frames the case as a gender issue, asking whether a male worker would have faced similar treatment, and cites constitutional protections under Sections 17, 34, 40 and 42 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, alongside international labour standards including ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
Among its twenty demands, the ENF is urging the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, human rights bodies and the International Labour Organisation to intervene, and is seeking a written government assurance that the nurse’s career will not suffer as a result of her complaint.
