Nigeria: Vandals loot Federal Mother and Child Hospital
By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria
Residents of Pakiotan, Ogbomoso, are outraged after vandals stripped the 80-bed Mother and Child Specialist Hospital of valuable equipment. The facility, commissioned in May 2023 and handed over to the Federal Ministry of Health through UCH Ibadan, has never been operational.
Community leaders say the thieves carted away cables, 150 solar batteries, fans, electrical appliances, and other medical equipment. The Onipakiotan of Pakiotan, Oba James Oyetunji Ojo, called the act “economic subversion” and demanded urgent action, stressing that the hospital’s dormancy left it vulnerable.
Local government chairman Ogunlade Gbadegesin and aides of former minister Sunday Dare accused UCH of failing to keep its promise to start operations. They urged the federal authorities to either open the hospital immediately or hand it over to the community to run.
