On 6 August, Nduke Pious stood beside the wreck of her three-bedroom bungalow, about 500 metres from the sprawling building website of the Ibom Medical City project in Itak within the Ikono Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
Ms Pius had delivered her fourth little one two weeks earlier and had returned from the hospital to listen to that brokers of the state authorities had pulled the uncompleted constructing down.
This was regardless of rejecting the compensation supplied her after the federal government acquired the land for the medical metropolis project.
She had been struggling to develop the property, which she hoped would supply a everlasting abode for her household.
“My baby is only two weeks old,” she instructed PREMIUM TIMES. “Right now, I am living with my sister. I received a quit notice from my landlord and had to move my belongings to my sister’s house.”
Ms Pius stated she spent greater than N3 million elevating the construction to lintel degree, however officers supplied her solely N550,000 as compensation.
As she spoke, staff with heavy tools targeted on delivering what Governor Umo Eno has described as certainly one of his administration’s most formidable tasks.
About 300 meters away, Sunday Okon, a cell phone repairer and father of three, tells an identical story.
After receiving a stop discover from his earlier residence throughout a drainage project, Mr Okon stated he borrowed N3 million and added his financial savings to roof a three-bedroom home.
But two months after transferring in, he learnt that the property had been marked for acquisition.
He stated he anticipated to obtain sufficient compensation to begin afresh.
Instead, the state supplied him N5.6 million as compensation.
“Given the cost of building materials and the level this building has reached, the least they should offer is N16 million,” Mr Okon stated.
“I’m appealing to the governor to provide adequate compensation so I can build another house for my children.”
PREMIUM TIMES discovered that greater than a dozen property homeowners rejected the compensation supplied by the state authorities as far wanting what they wanted to rebuild their properties.
Interviews with affected property homeowners, property valuers and attorneys, supported by valuation experiences, rejection letters and different paperwork reviewed by this newspaper, revealed lack of transparency over how compensations have been decided.
Several valuers stated their skilled assessments have been considerably increased than the figures authorised by the federal government, elevating broader questions on valuation requirements and whether or not affected households are receiving truthful compensation for certainly one of Akwa Ibom’s most formidable public tasks.
A project of monumental ambition
None of the property homeowners interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES opposed the project.
On the opposite, they variously described it as a welcome growth that would rework healthcare in Akwa Ibom.
Governor Eno unveiled the project plan and carried out the groundbreaking for the Ibom International Hospital in June.
Spread throughout 100 hectares, the power is anticipated to cut back medical tourism, create jobs and place Akwa Ibom as a number one vacation spot for specialised healthcare.
Designed as an built-in medical hub, it’ll home a number of specialist centres and healthcare-related companies.
“This project is not just a construction project; it is an investment in the future health and prosperity of our people,” the governor stated.
At the occasion, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, described the project as a sensible demonstration of Nigeria’s healthcare reform agenda.
Project Manager Teinye Isokariari stated the medical metropolis would comprise a 10-storey complicated accommodating 62 medical specialties, outfitted with superior expertise able to delivering world-class healthcare companies.
He described the project as “more than a hospital,” calling it “a journey” towards healthcare excellence.
Project gulps over six per cent of state’s 2026 finances
The state’s monetary dedication displays the size of that imaginative and prescient.
A evaluate of the Akwa Ibom 2026 budget by PREMIUM TIMES exhibits that the federal government earmarked numerous quantities for various elements of the project: N100 billion for the Ibom International Hospital, N10 billion for an Advanced Diagnostic Centre, N5 billion for a Mental Rehabilitation Centre and N2.5 billion for the Arise Renal Medical Centre/Dialysis Centre.
Together, the allocations quantity to N117.5 billion, representing greater than six per cent of the state’s N1.5 trillion 2026 finances.
For Governor Eno, the medical metropolis is a flagship funding supposed to reshape healthcare supply in Akwa Ibom.
However, for households like these of Ms Pius and Mr Okon, the project has turn out to be a painful balancing act between public progress and personal sacrifice.
While cranes and bulldozers put together the bottom for what may turn out to be certainly one of Nigeria’s largest specialist healthcare amenities, lots of those that surrendered their land and properties say the compensations are insufficient for what’s taken away from them.
‘We need fair compensation’
This newspaper had earlier reported how Peter Lambert took to Facebook to attraction to Governor Eno to evaluate the N3.7 million compensation supplied for his property acquired for the project.
Mr Lambert stated he invested almost N8 million within the property positioned in Ekpemiong Itak.
Across Ekpemiong Itak and Usuk Afaha Obio Ewang in Ikono Local Government Area, rejection letters, valuation experiences and interviews with property homeowners level to a compensation dispute that threatens to overshadow the formidable healthcare project.
Among these interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES is Anietie Effiong.
Standing beside his three-bedroom bungalow, he recalled officers informing him that his property was affected by the project.
“I did not protest because I believed the government would pay adequate compensation,” he stated.
Months later, he was knowledgeable that the state had authorised N2.1 million.
“It is so sad,” he stated. “I rejected the money. How can I accept N2 million for this property?”
Considering the present value of constructing supplies, Mr Effiong believes about N9 million would extra precisely replicate the worth of what he misplaced.
A letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES exhibits that he formally requested a revaluation from the Ministry of Lands and Town Planning.
“I hereby reject the said compensation due to the poor amount and therefore call for revaluation of my property,” he wrote.
Less than 300 meters away, Edet Etuk instructed an identical story.
His four-bedroom bungalow had reached wall-plate degree when officers knowledgeable him that it had been acquired.
He stated the federal government authorised N1.4 million as compensation.
“I submitted a rejection letter,” he stated. But, months after submitting the letter, he stated he was but to obtain a response.
“If the government offers me N9 million, I will accept it.”
His rejection letter, reviewed by this newspaper, argues that the provide doesn’t characterize “the true value and fair compensation” for the property, significantly given inflation and the sharp rise in building prices.
Similar sample, completely different property homeowners
The sample extends past the 2 males.
Idongesit Nnimmong publicly appealed to Governor Eno and Senate President Godswill Akpabio after the state acquired her two plots of land for the project.
She stated she had spent years shopping for greater than 2,000 blocks, cement, sand, chippings, fencing supplies and paying labour prices earlier than studying that compensation for each plots had been mounted at N896,000.
“I sincerely support this project because I know it will benefit Akwa Ibom State,” she wrote on Facebook. “I only humbly ask that my years of sacrifice are not forgotten. That news broke my heart. It does not reflect the value of my investment.”
For Glory Ntokon, the acquisition interrupted her journey out of a housing drawback.
When officers instructed her the state had authorised N1.5 million as compensation, she stated the dream collapsed.
“The cash isn’t sufficient to construct one other home.
“With my two children, it is frightening to think about how I will start all over again.”
The figures are much more putting within the case of Christiana Ekpo.
The state supplied her N540,000 for a three-bedroom bungalow constructed above damp-proof course degree.
Her impartial valuer assessed the identical property at N3.8 million.
“I rejected the offer immediately,” she stated.
Her lawyer, Anthony Ebuk, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES {that a} formal rejection letter had been submitted to the Ministry of Lands and Town Planning and that they have been nonetheless awaiting a response.
Supporting paperwork reviewed by this newspaper add one other layer to the dispute.
A valuation report ready by Mathias Hope and Associates states that Mrs Ekpo’s property is being acquired for the proposed Renal Kidney Centre, one of many specialised amenities deliberate inside the Medical City.
Using the Depreciated Replacement Cost Method, a recognised strategy for valuing everlasting buildings, the agency assessed the property at N3.8 million.
It is certainly one of a number of impartial valuation experiences reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES displaying vital variations between skilled assessments and the compensation authorised by the federal government.
The disparity is even wider within the instances of Sunday Okon and Friday Okon.
Their property valuer, Udom Udim, assessed Sunday’s property at N18.6 million and Friday’s at N20 million.
The authorities authorised N5.6 million and N8 million, respectively, for a three-bedroom flat and an residence housing three self-contained items and a two-bedroom flat.
“I know the properties in question were undervalued compared to the current cost of building materials,” Mr Udim stated.
He stated he submitted his valuation experiences to the Ministry of Lands and Town Planning and that the affected property homeowners had additionally engaged a lawyer.
While acknowledging that obligatory acquisition for public functions is recognised underneath Nigerian legislation, Mr Udim defined that impartial property surveyors ready their assessments utilizing established skilled requirements, whereas the compensation communicated to property homeowners got here from the state authorities by means of the Ministry of Lands and Town Planning.
That distinction is on the coronary heart of the dispute.
Property homeowners insist the authorised compensation doesn’t replicate the price of changing what they misplaced.
The authorities has but to publicly clarify the way it arrived on the compensation figures.
The disagreement turns into much more putting when seen towards the size of the state’s funding within the Medical City.
Governor Eno has repeatedly described the project as one that can cut back medical tourism by offering specialised healthcare companies inside Akwa Ibom a imaginative and prescient just like that superior greater than a decade in the past when the Ibom Multi-Specialty Hospital was commissioned underneath the administration of former Governor Akpabio.
Today, nevertheless, vital sections of that hospital stay unfinished, even as the 2026 finances supplies N2 billion for its completion whereas the federal government concurrently commits greater than N117 billion to key elements of the Medical City.
For households whose properties stand within the project’s path, these billions are much less rapid than a extra private query:
How do they rebuild the properties they surrendered for a project they help?
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Government but to elucidate valuation course of
As complaints mounted, PREMIUM TIMES sought solutions from the Akwa Ibom State Government. The newspaper requested how the compensation figures have been decided?
It additionally sought clarification on whether or not the Ministry of Lands and Town Planning thought of impartial valuation experiences submitted on behalf of affected property homeowners earlier than approving compensation.
The Commissioner for Lands and Town Planning, Ubong Inyang, declined to remark.
He initially referred PREMIUM TIMES to the ministry’s everlasting secretary however later directed this newspaper to the Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, after being reminded {that a} state authorities round restricts everlasting secretaries from talking to the media with out authorisation.
When contacted, Mr Umanah stated he didn’t have enough particulars of the affected properties to remark and requested particular data.
The detailed questions have been despatched to him through WhatsApp, asking what valuation charges, evaluation standards and schedules the Ministry utilized in figuring out compensation for properties and whether or not these schedules are publicly accessible within the curiosity of transparency and accountability.
As of the time this report was filed, Mr Umanah had not responded.
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