For residents of Mawogi, Dogo Ruwa, Gigbe, and Tugan Usman communities in Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, accessing basic healthcare has become a daily struggle marked by exhaustion, risk, and despair. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, and caregivers of newborns reportedly trek for over an hour, sometimes much longer to reach the nearest health facility for zero-dose vaccines, antenatal, and postnatal care, as their own communities still have no functional hospital or primary healthcare centre.
Ironically, these same communities were listed as beneficiaries of healthcare projects under the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP) projects approved specifically for the construction, renovation, and provision of medical facilities meant to end this hardship.
Investigations by Chronicles Reporters reveal that under CSDP guidelines, projects are community-owned and community-managed, with funds paid directly into community bank accounts, while government officials are restricted to supervision and advisory roles only, with no legal authority to control or spend project funds.
In compliance with this framework, the Mawogi community opened an account with Nisal Microfinance Bank, Abaji Area Council, in the name of Mawogi Community Project Management Committee (Account Number: 0259746333) to receive and manage the funds on behalf of the benefiting communities.
However, multiple community sources allege that shortly after the funds were disbursed, the Head of Health (HOD), Abaji Area Council, Dr. Mansur Ashafa, allegedly threatened and intimidatedmembers of the community project committees, ordering them to transfer the entire project sum out of their account.
The funds amounting to ₦11,950,061 were allegedly transferred from the community-managed account to a private company:
Shamgaj Integrated Service Limited
Access Bank
Account Number: 1884066164
According to investigation by Chronicles Reporters that the transfer was done under pressure and fear, with alleged warnings that failure to comply would lead to the project being frustrated or cancelled entirely.
More troubling are allegations that Dr. Mansur Ashafa is directly linked to Shamgaj Integrated Service Limited, raising grave concerns of conflict of interest, self-dealing, and abuse of office. Community leaders allege that by directing funds to a company he is linked to, the HOD effectively awarded the CSDP contract to himself, a practice strictly prohibited under public service rules and the CSDP operational manual.
“This was a community project, not a government contract,” a community representative said. “They told us government cannot touch the money, yet the HOD forced us to send it to his own company. Now there is no hospital, no drugs, no building only suffering.”
Despite several complaints reportedly to the Executive Chairman of Abaji Area Council, community members allege that no investigation, suspension, or probe was initiated into the actions of the HOD. This prolonged silence has fueled growing suspicion among residents, many of whom now openly accuse the Abaji chairman of being an accomplice by omission or commission.
“People believe the chairman did nothing because he is protecting the HOD,” another source said. “If he was not involved, he would have ordered an investigation long ago.”
Meanwhile, the human cost of the alleged diversion continues to mount. Pregnant women reportedly miss antenatal appointments due to distance and transport costs. Newborns risk missing life-saving vaccines. Elderly residents and emergency cases are forced to rely on motorcycles or foot journeys to distant facilities, sometimes with fatal consequences.
Community members insist that the absence of healthcare facilities is no longer a development issue but a humanitarian crisis, worsened by what they describe as the conversion of a poverty-alleviation project into a private enrichment scheme.
As of the time of this report, Dr. Mansur Ashafa, Shamgaj Integrated Service Limited, and the Abaji Area Council Chairman have not issued any public response to the allegations. Efforts to obtain official clarification were unsuccessful.
The affected communities are now calling on the EFCC, ICPC, FCTA authorities, and the CSDP National Office to urgently intervene, audit the project accounts, trace the funds, and determine whether criminal breaches including fraud, intimidation, conflict of interest, and abuse of officewere committed.
Until then, residents of Mawogi, Dogo Ruwa, Gigbe, and Tugan Usman say they remain abandoned walking miles for healthcare that was already funded, approved, and allegedly stolen before it ever reached the ground.