On the first day of a strike initiated by public service doctors in Nigeria, government hospitals experienced a complete shutdown of services, causing significant difficulties for patients seeking healthcare.

The president of the resident doctors' union informed the BBC that his members had exhausted all possible avenues to resolve the crisis before resorting to the strike.

At the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, the largest city in the north-west region, the situation was dire as patients were turned away and advised to take their sick relatives back home due to the unavailability of doctors to attend to them.

Khadijah Hassan had brought her husband, who was involved in a car accident, to the hospital at midnight on Wednesday, but the doctors refused to provide medical attention due to the strike.

The patient was left lying down in the hospital corridors. “What are we going to do? We will have to sit here in the hospital till the doctors resume work,” she said.

Khadijah's situation mirrored that of Ishiaku Musa, who brought his elder brother from a neighboring state to the teaching hospital in Kano 12 days ago. Ishiaku's brother was suffering from migraine headaches, but due to the ongoing strike, they were only given prescriptions and asked to leave without any significant improvement in his condition.

In the capital city, Abuja, the local chapter of the doctors' union was still attending to patients as they awaited a statement from the national body regarding joining the strike.

Meanwhile, at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in Port Harcourt, doctors were seen handing their patients over to the few available consultants.

In Lagos, the commercial hub, doctors were still attending to admitted patients, but no new patients were being admitted.

The resident doctors, who constitute a significant portion of Nigeria's tertiary hospital doctors, have gone on strike until their demands concerning salaries and welfare are met. They are seeking immediate payment of salary arrears owed to them, a new hazard allowance, and the establishment of a training fund.

Given Nigeria's fragile healthcare system, strikes by resident doctors could have a substantial impact on medical services in government hospitals nationwide.