Town protests poor hospital, road

By Emma Elekwa, Onitsha

Indigenes of Agba village in Ekwuluobia, Anambra State, at the weekend, protested the dilapidated general hospital and abandoned Isuofia/Agba Ekwulobia/Eke Ekwulobia road.

The protesters lamented that the lack of government’s presence in the last 10 years left the hospital in a mess.

They carried placards with various inscriptions: “Social Contracts are not kept”; “Election are coming again o”; “Save our souls, Mr. Governor”; “Are we remembered only during elections.”

Leader of the Agba Village Development Union Bertrand Ezeokoli, who for the protesters, called on Governor Willie Obiano to intervene and rescue them from agony.

He said: “The reason we staged the peaceful protest is to let the government know that we are no more relaxed with the state of our road and hospital. We are here to notify the government that we are in hell. We are suffering. We have no access to our homes and medical treatment. Let the government come to our aid.

“Are we still part of Anambra State? If yes, why are we being treated like slaves? Let them remember that election is still coming and we cannot vote while our back is on the ground. With this condition, no politician should enter this environment for campaign or whatever.

“There is no road; people carry corpse in their hands to the mortuary because there is no road to pass…’’

The hospital is long dilapidated with bush everywhere, in fact nothing is working.

“When you visit the hospital you find out that there are no workers. One nurse has two or three shifts at the same time in different departments of the hospital.

“For the government to take our land and build a non-functional institution like this is not acceptable. If the government is not interested in uplifting the hospital, it should return our land to us to build houses, let it out and generate revenue.

“Agba people have no one to speak for them that is why we are speaking for ourselves. In fact, many of the representatives of this community are saboteurs who are only looking for something to fill their pockets. We came out to inform the government that we are not happy with the state of the hospital. We want to see this hospital functional. We want to see positive changes in the hospital with enough personnel working here.”