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By Correspondent in Abuja.
The Centre for Human Rights and Advocacy in Africa Network(CHRAN) has strongly condemned the demolition of the Margaret Lawrence University Teaching Hospital (MLUTH) by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
Our correspondent gathered that the state-of-the-art medical facility, located within the upscale River Park Estate, Abuja, was pulled down on Saturday, sparking outrage among residents and stakeholders.
In a statement jointly signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Henry Abba, and Director of Programmes, Mr. Michael Ikwebe, on Sunday in Abuja, the group described the action as “high-handed, insensitive, barbaric, and unacceptable.”
The organisation alleged that the FCTA offered no justification for the demolition, despite the project being commissioned over a year ago and actively under development.
“The whole incident has thrown the estate into panic. What we have is not an undeveloped plot but a hospital project that has been progressing for more than a year. Without prior notice, the FCTA stormed the site and spent the entire day pulling it down,” the group said.
It further argued that the demolition was ill-timed and amounted to “bad faith,” adding that it smacked of a deliberate policy to dispossess residents under the guise of urban development.
The group also noted that the incident followed the demolition of 35 other structures in the estate within three days, on the directive of the Ministerial Taskforce set up by FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike.
“It is legally and morally wrong for the FCTA to demolish a University Teaching Hospital Cancer Centre without notice, and on a Saturday. What is going on in River Park Estate is nothing short of land grabbing disguised as urban renewal,” the statement added.
The rights group called on the FCT Minister to rein in the taskforce, warning that it was “operating outside the scope of the report approved by him.”
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
