By Chika Otuchikere
The National President of Laboratory Scientists, Dr Casmir Ifeanyi, has disclosed that members of his association were kidnapped and attacked while serving the nation.
Ifeanyi made this known during a media briefing to round up a four-day annual event of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists Nigeria, wherein he expressed concern that every Nigerian should live and work anywhere in the country without fear or threat.
He said, “We remain deeply concerned about the lingering security challenges facing our nation. Our members have repeatedly been victims of kidnappings and violent attacks. These happened while they were providing essential healthcare services to Nigerians.
“We acknowledge the efforts of His Excellency President Bola Tinubu, and the security agencies. We respectfully urge Mr. President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, not to relent.
“Every Nigerian must be able to live, work, travel and serve without fear. National development, healthcare delivery, education and economic prosperity can only thrive in peace and security,” he stressed.
The president, who affirmed that between 70 and 80 per cent of clinical decisions depended on medical laboratory results, noted that the accuracy, speed and integrity of those results, and of the data behind them, matter greatly for patient safety and for the health of the nation.
While making allusion to a recent Appeal Court’s judgment which established a distinction between laboratory scientists and medical scientists, he insisted that the ruling must be binding on all affected.
Ifeanyi continued, “AMLSN welcomes the landmark judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division. It is in Appeal No. CA/A/437/2016, between JUTH Management and Pathologists and the Incorporated Trustees of AMLSN. It was delivered on Friday, 9th October 2026.
“This is the judgment of the final appellate court. It ends the long contest over who controls the medical laboratory services. It affirms what the law has always provided. Medical Laboratory Science is a distinct profession from Medicine.
“It has its own enabling Act, regulatory Council, scheme of service and scope of practice. Pathologists and MDCAN must obey this judgment. They must confine themselves to their statutory duty of seeing patients, not performing medical laboratory work,” Ifeanyi said.
The president urged President Bola Tinubu to direct all relevant agencies to give full effect to the judgement.
“We call on His Excellency President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct all relevant agencies to give full effect to the judgment without delay. We urge the AGF to advise and ensure that the executive arm obeys the judgment, in keeping with the rule of law.
“We urge the Honourable Minister of Health to issue a circular to all Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals to obey the judgment forthwith. Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal Tertiary Hospitals: We urge them to comply with the judgment forthwith.
“Medical laboratory departments must be headed, managed and supervised by medical laboratory scientists. The Scheme of Service for Medical Laboratory Scientists must be fully implemented. Court judgments bind public officers. Court judgments are not optional,” he said.
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