By Ismail Auwal
Residents have accused the Chairman of Ungoggo Local Government, Abdullahi Garba Ramat, of selling lands belonging to Bela Leprosy Hospital in Kano State.
The Hospital was established by the British over 60 years ago to serve both as a treatment center and residents for patients suffering from highly stigmatized Leprosy.
However, in a suspicious move the Local Govt Chairman allegedly sold the houses where these patients have been living for ages, and allocated them a few plots of lands far away from the hospital to relocate.
SAHELIAN TIMES gathered that patients were given only 10 plots of land, one plot per four families, regardless of the size of their families, whereas their former residents were sold to cronies.
In an interview with SAHELIAN TIMES, Zubairu Sulaiman, the district head of Bela, cried out that the 40 by 40 feet pieces of land are too small to contain their number.
He mentioned that the Local Government Council had allotted only 10 plots of land to more than 30 families who reside in the affected hospital.
Some of the victims of the land racket who spoke to our reporter complained about not having the means to source the money for building the new allotted plots of land.
“Some of us have to go out and beg for our daily food; how are we expected to get money and build a house?”
Kabiru Adam, a resident of the community, also stated that the majority of them rely on alms for food, but that they have now been completely relocated to a community on the outskirts of town.
“Life is becoming difficult for us,” he admitted.
Ramat did not respond to our reporter’s calls at the time of writing this report.
