ARMY COMMENCES CONSTRUCTION OF REFERENCE HOSPITAL IN EBONYI
Reporter : AMECHI ODO
The Nigerian Army has embarked on the construction of two hundred bed capacity Reference Hospital in Ebonyi State to provide tertiary medical care for troops involved in internal security operations within the South East, South South and North Central Zones of the country.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Brutai, stated this at the foundation laying of the Hospital in Abakaliki. The two hundred bed capacity Nigerian Army Reference Hospital is sited a few metres away from 24 Military Support Engineer Regiment Nkwoagu and opposite a proposed Ebonyi State International Stadium Abakaliki.
Represented by the Army Chief of Policy and Plans, Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Brutai explained that internal security efforts of Nigerian Army sometimes resulted in casualties that required tertiary level of medical care of which Army Reference Hospitals would provide.
He stated that evacuation of wounded or sick soldiers to some of the Reference Hospitals already established outside South East zone had often resulted in loss of valuable time and additional stress, especially in emergency cases. Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, had while performing the foundation laying, commended the Chief of Army Staff for the choice of the state for the project, noting that it would further boost the transformed state’s health sector.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to sack the Service Chiefs as being demanded by Nigerians but increase the funding for security agencies to enable them to tackle security challenges bedeviling the country.
The Coordinator Nigerian Army Special Project, Major General KO Kadiri, noted that the Reference Hospital would have Psychiatric ward to handle post-traumatic stress disorder often witnessed among soldiers as well as a Helli Pad and would be completed in six months.
The event was witnessed by the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army Enugu, Major General Lasisi Adegboye, the Deputy Governors of Ebonyi, Anambra and Abia States.