Esther Salifu
In a shocking act of vandalism, unidentified individuals have stripped the Federal Mother and Child Specialist Hospital in Pakiotan, Oyo State, of vital infrastructure including 150 solar batteries, electrical cables, ceiling fans, and other essential equipment leaving the year-old facility in disrepair before it could serve the community.
The hospital, facilitated by former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, was designed to serve as an urban health center, equipped with beds, drugs, laboratory equipment, and other medical consumables. However, since its handover, the facility has remained unused, with no security measures in place.
Commissioned in May 2023 and handed over to the Federal Ministry of Health, the facility has been left idle for over a year
Onipakiotan of Pakiotan Oba James during a recent inspection of the facility disclosed that 150 solar batteries, electrical appliances, ceiling fans, and other valuable items had been removed.
“The destruction of this infrastructure has become a major concern for the community and requires urgent and coordinated action,” he lamented .
“If the hospital had been put to use, such incidents would not have happened,”Oba Ojo emphasized, urging the Federal Ministry of Health to either commence operations immediately or hand over the hospital to the community for proper management.
Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government, Ogunlade Gbadegesin, expressed his disappointment over the abandonment.
“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 assured.
The community had released eight plots of land for the hospital, aiming to bring quality maternal and child healthcare closer to the people of the ancient city and its environs.
The current state of the facility not only represents a loss of valuable resources but also a missed opportunity to improve healthcare delivery in the region.
As the hospital remains a shell of its intended purpose, the call for immediate action grows louder, highlighting the need for accountability and proactive governance to prevent such occurrences in the future.
