By UCHENNA UGWU

The ICPC has retrieved a Federal Government-funded hospital surreptitiously taken over by Ebunwana Community in Afikpo-South Local Government Area of Ebonyi.

It handed over the N150 million hospital to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo (FUNAI), Ebonyi on Monday.

Speaking at the ceremony, the ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, said “the project was facilitated by the former Senator representing Ebonyi South Senatorial District, Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji.

“It was appropriated in the 2019 budget and completed in March 2020.

“After the completion, the local community unofficially took over the hospital, though it was not meant for the community.

“They went ahead to appoint a consultant to manage it on a profit-sharing formula between the community and the consultant.

“The project has been recovered by ICPC’s Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Group (CEPTG) and is being handed over to the university community.

“Meanwhile, investigations are on-going to unravel how the local community got access and took control of the hospital without any official ceremony.’’

Owasanoye, represented by an ICPC officer, SP Nzebunachi Chukwuma, said the fully equipped hospital was conceived as a medical outpost of FUNAI in the area.

He explained that the facility was meant to serve as a teaching hospital for the institution’s medical students.

In his remarks at the handing-over, Prof. Smart Otu, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, described the project as a unique intervention.

He assured the community of immediate and effective commencement of activity at the hospital.

Otu commended the ICPC for initiating the take-over of the hospital.

“The community should know that its members will be the first beneficiaries of the project. We will collaborate to ensure the place is used optimally,” he said. (NAN)