Follow Us on Google
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The demolition of the multi-billion Margaret Lawrence Teaching Hospital (MLUTH) and Cancer Center in Abuja by officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has continued to receive widespread condemnation from concerned citizens and organisations.
In a statement yesterday, the Center for Human Rights and Advocacy in Africa Network, alleged that the demolition was carried out without the approval of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
The statement co-signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Henry Abba and Director of Programmes, Michael Ikwebe, described the demolition as “high handed, insensitive, barbaric and unacceptable.”
The group, therefore, called on the FCT minister to call the taskforce to order as information at its disposal suggested that no reason was advanced by the FCTA for its action.
The construction of the Cancer Center located inside the high-brow River Park Estate, started a year ago, with massive construction work ongoing at the project site.
However, on Saturday, September 13, bulldozers of the FCTA rolled into River Park Estate, housing the gigantic University hospital facility and pulled the structure down to rubble.
The Civil Society Organization expressed shock and disbelief that demolition of this magnitude could take place in contemporary Nigeria, and wondered what the FCTA is aiming at in the high-value estate.
“The whole incident has brought about panic in the estate, and at this point, nobody knows what is going on, because what was said in the report of the FCT Minister was that all undeveloped portions are what they want to re-possess.
“But what we have in this instance is a project that has been commissioned for over a year and has been actively under development for the past one year.
“We learnt on good authority that without any prior notice, the officials of FCTA came in and demolished the structure. In fact, they took the whole day to even do what they were doing there” the group stated.
The Executive Director said that the action of the FCTA was highly condemnable, unacceptable and could best be described as one demolition done in bad fate.
“We are under siege in this country, and nobody seems to be talking. It is legally and morally wrong for the FCTA to come into an estate to demolish a University Teaching Hospital Cancer Center, without prior notice, and on a Saturday.
“Saturday’s exercise came on the heels of 35 structures that have been demolished in the last 3 days within the estate on the directive of the Ministerial Taskforce. What is going on in the estate is a policy of “land grabbing” disguised as urban development.
“We hereby appeal to the FCT Minister to call the “Ministerial Committee” to order because they are going outside the report approved by the Minister, the statement said.
Efforts to get the Management of Margaret Lawrence University Teaching Hospital was futile as placed calls did not go through.
