Nine Months Unpaid: House Officers Cry Out Over Non-Payment of Salaries at Navy Reference Hospital

A medical house officer at the Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital in Calabar, Cross River State, has publicly raised the alarm over the severe financial distress facing frontline doctors at the facility, revealing that nine house officers have been working for 290 days without receiving a single salary payment.

In a video statement detailing their plight, Dr. Innocent appealed to federal authorities for urgent intervention, describing the situation as “unfair and brutal” after nearly ten months of demanding clinical labor without compensation.

The affected doctors explained that their workload at the Calabar facility is exceptionally demanding. Due to severe shortages of resident medical personnel, the house officers and medical officers are left to independently man the General Out-Patient Department (GOPD) and the Accident and Emergency (A&E) unit daily, alongside assisting in major surgical operations. An average house officer at the facility covers between 10 to 15 on-call shifts every month, routinely working seven days a week.

Despite the fact that the clinical duties are carried out at a naval medical facility, the doctors clarified that their employment letters and contracts were issued directly by the Federal Ministry of Defence, making the ministry the agency responsible for their remuneration.

According to the doctors, repeated efforts to engage officials at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja have proved unsuccessful, with contact persons unable to provide any substantive updates on when the backlog of salaries will be cleared.

The house officers lamented that the intense, unrelenting schedule leaves them with zero opportunities to pursue alternative income streams to survive. Furthermore, they noted that despite the prolonged lack of pay, facility authorities rigidly enforce maximum productivity, warning that any failure to discharge duties due to the financial strain could result in severe disciplinary actions.

While acknowledging the institutional framework of both the Nigerian Navy and the Ministry of Defence, the medical personnel urged top-tier administrators to prioritize the critical matter, stating that the situation has taken an immense physical and mental toll on the frontline healthcare workers.