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Reports suggest that Okerenkoko Cottage Hospital, Okerenkoko in Warri southwest local government area of Delta state has been closed down due to lack of funds.
Vanguard reports that the Delta state government- owned state hospital which was renovated and furnished with state-of-the-art facilities by former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has been shut down, as members of staff could not be paid adequately and facilities could not be maintained.
Tompolo reportedly renovated the hospital after the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) abandoned it in 2009.
Sources said that the hospital was locked up due to lack of funding following the current travails of Tompolo, who provided free health services to people of the area in the hospital.
The hunt for Tompolo by security operatives has been said to be detrimental to the growth of the Niger Delta
Security operatives are hunting for Tompolo following a bench warrant by a Federal High Court in Lagos for his arrest. At press time, all the medical personnel at the hospital, the only government health institution in Gbaramatu Kingdom, whose salaries were paid by Tompolo since 2014, have deserted the hospital.
Among them were four doctors, four laboratory scientists, four pharmacists, eight nurses, four health recorders and other health workers, whom he personally employed to provide free health services to residents of Gbaramatu Kingdom, as a way of complementing government healthcare delivery.
Besides Gbaramatu Kingdom, the hospital also serves the riverine dwellers that troop from other parts of the state, Edo, Ondo and Bayelsa.
The Tompolo Foundation established by the ex-militant leader took over both the Okerenkoko and Ogulagha cottage hospitals and had extended a helping hand to other government hospitals in Warri, Ekpan and Patani. DESOPADEC, which initially ran the health facility, abandoned it in 2009 after the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta, bombed and destroyed some facilities in the hospital while hunting for militants that allegedly killed some soldiers.
National President of Ijaw People Development Initiative (IPDI), Austin Ozobo, who spoke on Monday, March 7, said: “The witch-hunt of Tompolo by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has crumbled medical services in Gbaramatu Kingdom, as the cottage hospital is the only health facility in the riverine area.” “You can see the difficult situation that EFCC has foisted on the people, the commission has made Tompolo unavailable to continue with his humanitarian services of funding the only government health centre in the kingdom and that has made medical personnel under his pay roll to leave, as the government is not ready to continue payment and operation.”
There have been several warnings to the Nigerian government over the quest to arrest Tompolo, as many within the Niger Delta region believe that
the hunt for the ex-militant lord will stir fresh militant agitations thereby plunging the region into further ruins.
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