Abuja – The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) said on Friday that doctors would treat Ebola patients in the event of outbreak of the disease in the country.

The NMA National Vice-President, Dr Titus Ibekwe, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“NMA has been on strike even before the Ebola scare and we are still on strike, but not withstanding if there is an outbreak of Ebola in the country we will attend to such cases.

“We are not against Nigerians; we care for the people; all we want is for justice to be done,’’ Ibekwe said.

He said that in states that had been affected by recent bomb blast such as Kano and Kaduna, doctors treated the victims in line with a directive from the NMA.

The National vice-president expressed optimism that all the issues leading to the ongoing strike would soon be resolved.

Also, Dr Jibril Abdullahi, the National President of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), said that its members would pay attention to public emergencies including Ebola outbreak.

“Ebola is an issue of great concerns to all Nigerians.

“We have demonstrated copiously by our conduct in Kaduna and Kano States after the recent bomb blast that doctors are ready to respond to dire public emergencies including Ebola,’’ Abdullahi said.

Abdullahi, however, said that threats by the government would not work, and urged appropriate resolution of the demands of the striking doctors for them to return to work.

“One thing is clear, threats and demonisation of doctors through state-sponsored drama will not work,’’ he said.