Secrets Reporters
In the heart of Igbide, a major community in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State, where the air should be filled with the sounds of healing and the cries of newborns, there is only a deafening, morbid silence. The General Hospital at Egbo-Igbide, once promised to be a glimmer of hope for the Isoko people, has instead become a sprawling monument to administrative apathy. What was meant to be a sanctuary for the sick has transformed into a haunting “abandoned cemetery,” where the only residents are thriving weeds and wandering livestock.
The tragedy of Igbide is not that the government forgot to build; it is that they bothered to renovate and then walked away. In 2024, when the Delta State Government embarked on its renovation, residents of Igbide and sub-communities; Owodokpokpo, Oteri, Urovor, and Egbo, celebrated what they believed was the dawn of accessible healthcare. For many, it was a long-awaited intervention that would end years of medical hardship.
But two years later, that hope has curdled into a bitter irony. The hospital stands empty; no doctors, no nurses, no beds, and no equipment. It is a hollow shell, a beautiful corpse of a building waiting for a soul that never arrived.
When SecretsReporters visited the hospital, the atmosphere was eerily reminiscent of a deserted cemetery. Tall grasses swayed in the wind, creeping into doorways and windows. Goats wandered freely through the compound, while lizards darted across cracked floors. Not a single sign of medical activity could be found; no staff, no equipment, no patients.
In a chat with our Reporter, Desmond, a resident of Igbide, spoke with visible frustration. According to him, the community has been left stranded despite the presence of what should have been a fully functional healthcare facility.
He explained that the existing community maternity center, which is the only thin line between life and death for these five communities, is woefully inadequate. It lacks essential drugs and is primarily restricted to delivering babies, leaving every other medical emergency to the mercy of a grueling journey to neighboring towns.
“I rushed my wife to the maternity on Sunday 12th April, 2026 but it was closed. I had to rush her to the general hospital at Olomoro but the doctor was not around and my wife was at the point of death. I had to rush her to a private hospital at Oleh,” he recounted, his voice heavy with emotion.
Despite his ordeal, Desmond acknowledged that the government did a good job in renovating the structure, stressing that the outlook is that of a standard hospital. However, he stressed that without equipment and staff, the effort remains meaningless. “They did a good job with the renovation, but what is a hospital without doctors, drugs, or equipment?” he asked.
Another resident, Enejeta, described the situation as a cruel irony. According to her, the absence of a functional hospital has subjected residents to unnecessary suffering, especially in emergency situations where every second counts. She lamented that pregnant women, accident victims, and critically ill patients are often forced to travel long distances under life-threatening conditions.
Ogaga-Oghene, also a resident, echoed similar concerns. He painted a grim picture of a community abandoned by a system that raised their hopes only to dash them. “We celebrated when they started renovating this place. Now, it is worse than before. At least before, we knew we had nothing. Now, we are being mocked by a building that does nothing,” he said bitterly.
Findings by SecretsReporters revealed that beyond the physical structure, there is absolutely no operational framework in place. No medical personnel have been posted to the facility, no equipment has been installed, and no timeline has been communicated to the community regarding when, or if, the hospital will ever become functional.
Residents are calling on the Delta State Government to move beyond cosmetic projects and take urgent, decisive action. Their demands are clear: equip the hospital, deploy qualified medical personnel, and make the facility operational without further delay.
When contacted for comments, the current Commissioner for Health in Delta State, Dr. Joseph Onojaeme did not take his calls.
