Prof. Abdulkareem Jika-Yusuf, the Medical Director, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Kaduna,
has commended the Kaduna State Government for series of raids carried out on alleged illegal rehabilitation centres in Kaduna State the state.
Jika-Yusuf told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Tuesday that the hospital can accommodate the inmates rescued from the alleged
illegal rehabilitation centres.
Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Oct. 19 led a raid on another illegal rehabilitation centre in Rigasa community, Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
The raid was barely three weeks after a similar centre was discovered in the same Rigasa community.
During the raid at the rehabilitation centre called Malam Nigga Rehabilitation Centre, 147 inmates, including 22 females and five children were evacuated by the state government.
Many of the inmates alleged being dehumanized and severally abused sexually.
The inmates were then given temporary shelter at the Mando Hajj Camp, where they were given first aid treatment and tested for possible ailments.
Jika-Yusuf, therefore, said the series of raids by the state government would help to sanitise the system against some allegations of maltreatment and sexual molestation.
He said “we are never in competition with any of those centres being raided by the state government with regards to patients’ care.
“I don’t know what those centres do in their places, so I cannot say that they are filling a vacuum that we are supposed to fill.
“All I know is that we always attend to patients being brought to us with utmost professionalism and diligence, not all patients are on admission and those who are certified alright are being discharged.”
He said that the hospital is ever ready to continue providing services prior to the closure of the alleged illegal rehabilitation centres.
He added that “our core mandate is service, teaching and research and we will continue to do that.
“If some of those patients being released from captivity from the alleged rehabilitation centres in Kaduna approach this hospital for help, we can actually accommodate all of them.
“Ours is not the only psychiatric hospital in this country, some of the released patients from the alleged rehabilitation centres are from Kaduna,
while others are not.”
The medical director, who identified drug abuse as a big challenge affecting the society, urged relevant stakeholders, philanthropists to support the hospital
in taking care of those affected.
He added that “the hospital currently has 11 consultant psychiatrists, 120 bed spaces, to continue meeting up with large number of patients with mental challenges; we need more support in order to continue discharging our services effectively.
“The hospital takes care of patients from the North West and North Central region, so we need more infrastructure to cater for the increasing number of patients.
