Hoodlums Ransack Federal Government’s 80-Bed Hospital in Oyo 

The Federal Government’s 80-bed Mother and Child Specialist Hospital in Pakiotan, in the Ogbomoso North Local Government Area of Oyo State, has been vandalised by yet to be identified hoodlums.

The facility, equipped with beds, drugs, laboratory equipment, and other medical consumables, was designed to serve as an urban health centre.

The project was facilitated by a former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, completed and inaugurated on May 27, 2023, and subsequently handed over to the Federal Ministry of Health through the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

The Onipakiotan of Pakiotan, Oba James Ojo, who took newsmen round the facility on Wednesday, condemned the incident.

He recalled that some cables were vandalised even before the inauguration, and replaced by the former minister, Dare.

The monarch said, “The destruction of this infrastructure has become a major concern for the community and requires urgent and coordinated action.

“We must ensure that those who willfully destroy or vandalise public property are held accountable. As the saying goes, offenders must be brought to book or the book brought to them.

“Since the handover, nothing has been happening here. We have no access to the facility, and there’s no security.

“Recently, we noticed signs of intrusion, and when one of Dare’s aides joined us to inspect the site, we were shocked to discover that all the cables, 150 solar batteries, electrical appliances, ceiling fans, and other valuable items had been removed.”

He added that the eight plots of land for the hospital was released by the community to bring quality maternal and child healthcare closer to the people of the ancient city and its environs.

“However, the facility has remained idle for more than a year after commissioning,” he bemoaned.

He, therefore, appealed to the ministry through UCH to either commence operations immediately or hand the hospital over to the community for proper management.

“If the hospital had been put to use, such incidents would not have happened,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government, Ogunlade Gbadegesin, expressed disappointment that such an edifice was abandoned.

“So many valuable medical items have been looted, and others are at risk.

“We will engage security personnel to safeguard what remains until the hospital is finally put into use,” he promised.

Source: Punch