A disturbing report has emerged from Pabiri Community in Kuje Area Council, where a multi-million naira health facility has remained locked and abandoned for over five years, forcing pregnant women to travel kilometers on motorcycles while in active labor.
The facility, which was constructed in 2019 under the FCT Community and Social Development Project, was intended to serve as a lifeline for the rural community. However, residents claim the building was bolted shut immediately after its official commissioning, with no medical personnel ever deployed to the site.
Life-Threatening Commutes on Two Wheels
The human cost of this administrative neglect was laid bare during a recent field visit by Tracka, a public accountability organization. Observers witnessed a pregnant woman in labor being balanced on the back of a motorcycle, embarking on a perilous 5km journey to a neighboring community to seek basic medical assistance.
Community leaders have voiced their mounting frustrations, narrating a grim history of avoidable deaths and worsening health conditions caused by the total lack of local emergency care.
“Why should people die from preventable illnesses and pregnant women be transported on motorcycles to other communities, when a health facility was constructed?” Tracka questioned in a public statement. “Immediately after the commissioning of the facility, it was abandoned and locked. No healthcare personnel was deployed to manage or operate the centre.”
An Urgent Call for Ministerial Intervention
The skeletal remains of the clinic have become a symbol of wasted resources in the Federal Capital Territory. Despite the structure being physically complete, it lacks the essential equipment and staffing necessary to save lives.
In a direct appeal to the government, advocates are now calling on the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, the Federal Ministry of Health, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to intervene. The community is demanding the immediate renovation, equipping, and staffing of the Pabiri facility to end the era of “motorcycle ambulances” and unnecessary loss of life.
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