The Social Development Secretariat (SDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) Abuja has handed over one 23-year-old Beatrice Adah, a cancer patient, to her family after sponsoring her surgery at the National Hospital, Abuja.
Acting Director SDS, Alhaji Sani Amar, said in Abuja on Tuesday that before the intervention of the SDS the cancer patient was being used by some men to make money on the streets of Abuja, and that when the department apprehended them, they claimed that they had earlier taken the patient to the National Hospital but couldn’t afford the medical bill, hence their resort to begging.
Amar further said that the SDS took the patient to the National Hospital to verify the claim and that the surgeon asked them to make a deposit of N500,000.
He noted that the men had already realised millions of naira through begging on behalf of the patient.
He explained that, “In fact, we discovered that one of the young men has bought a plot of land in one of the local communities from Abuja natives out of the money they realised through the begging.
“The second one also purchased a land and even built a structure on it, all with the money they gathered through begging in the name of looking for money to pay her medical bill.
“Our investigation further revealed that the patient was in their custody from July, 2020, until when we intercepted them about two months ago.
“And by the grace of Almighty Allah the surgery was carried out successfully.”
He further revealed that when the department took Beatrice to the hospital, a Good Samaritan contributed N350,000, while the FCTA completed the money and made the deposit for the treatment.
But, “From the money the two young men realised through begging, we made them vomit N500,000, which we added to the initial deposit of N500,000 for the treatment.
“Subsequently, FCTA through the SDS added N300,000. In fact, from the beginning to the end of the treatment we spent about N1.6m.”
He said the department took them to the Department of State Services (DSS) where the Director of Criminality read the Riot Act to them.
Receiving Beatrice from the FCTA, Mrs Beatrice Ushunde, aunty to the patient, expressed gratitude to the FCTA for coming to her rescue.
She said, “On behalf of our family, I want to use this medium to appreciate the FCTA for assisting us to ensure that our daughter was treated at the National Hospital.”
NAN