Services were crippled at several general hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday as private security guards staged fresh protests over unpaid salaries for four months, blocking entrances and preventing staff and patients from accessing the facilities.

Operations at Nyanya, Zuba and Kubwa General Hospitals were completely paralysed, leaving scores of patients stranded outside the gates while health workers were locked out.

The latest demonstration comes barely three weeks after the guards first embarked on similar protests to demand their outstanding wages.

The guards, who are employed by private security firms contracted by the FCT Administration, barricaded the entrances while chanting solidarity songs and vowing not to return to duty until all arrears were cleared.

“We can’t keep working without pay. Our families are suffering,” one of the protesting guards said.

A manager from one of the affected security companies described the situation as “unsustainable”, revealing he had taken a bank loan to keep his operations afloat.

“I borrowed N10 million from Zenith Bank just to maintain our deployment. I expected to repay once the FCTA released funds. The repayment deadline has passed, and my staff are still unpaid. This is unfortunate. We were told the money has been paid. If the ministry has paid, where is our money? Some of us can barely feed our children,” he said.

A senior Civil Defence officer also confirmed the release of the funds and questioned why the contracted firms had yet to disburse salaries to their personnel.

Efforts to reach the Director of Reform Coordination and Service Improvement, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu, were unsuccessful as of press time.

The lockdown triggered scenes of frustration as patients pleaded for access to medical care, with many blaming the authorities for allowing the crisis to fester.

“People’s lives are at stake. This should never have been allowed to happen,” a stranded patient lamented.

Health workers have called for urgent intervention by the FCT Administration, warning that the shutdown is worsening pressure on Abuja’s already overstretched healthcare facilities. They urged the minister to compel immediate payment of the guards’ entitlements to restore normalcy.

In other news, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has ordered an all-round security reinforcement across Abuja, with a specific charge for intensified surveillance at border corridors linking the territory with neighbouring states, as part of renewed efforts to stem rising criminal activities.

To implement the directive, the Operation Sweep Squad — a joint task force drawing personnel from the military, police, Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies — has begun a coordinated deployment to strategic flashpoints across the nation’s capital.

In a related development, the Federal Capital Territory Administration has directed all government schools in the FCT to conclude their ongoing examinations and shut down academic activities by Friday, November 28, 2025.

Speaking during the formal briefing of the team on Tuesday, the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Miller Dantawaye, urged operatives to deepen inter-agency cooperation to stamp out crime within the territory decisively. (The Guardian)