Former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has pledged to pay the full cost of treatment for a baby born without an anus, after doctors put the corrective surgery at between ₦3 million and ₦5 million.
Onyejeocha made the pledge while inspecting her week-long free medical outreach across Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, where the baby’s case was among several she said pushed her to personally cover treatment for patients the volunteer medical team could not handle.
“If this outreach doesn’t help her, who will? The young mother cannot even afford ₦50,000, yet she has been told to produce between ₦3 million and ₦5 million for surgery,” she said.
She said she has instructed the medical team to admit any patient whose condition cannot be managed on-site and forward the bills to her. The baby currently passes waste through an opening in the abdomen and needs the surgery to survive.
The outreach also reached the nomadic school at Lokpanta Regional Cattle Market, where pupils, women and members of the Northern community received free treatment.
Onyejeocha said the programme has run for 19 years, predating her political career, and traced it to a family tradition started by her grandmother. She expects the current round to treat about 1,000 people, with serious cases referred for advanced care at her expense.
Asked about health sector reforms should she return to the National Assembly, she said she would not make promises but would interrogate existing policies using her grassroots medical experience.
Northern community leaders at Lokpanta — including former Market Chairman Alhaji Ali Umar, community secretary Ali Ibrahim Kanima, and Chief Imam Mohammed Tukur Usman — thanked Onyejeocha for extending the outreach to the market and commended the Abia State Government for restoring security there. They appealed for government action on the area’s water shortage.
Emmanuel Igwe and Anthony Maduka, whose sons had free hernia surgeries during the outreach at Isuochi, thanked Onyejeocha for the intervention. Former Isuikwuato Mayor and APC House of Assembly candidate Chima Agbaeze also praised the initiative.
Dr Stanley Uju, speaking for team lead Dr Humble Evuchaiwe, said the medical team has carried out several successful surgeries and is working to meet its target.
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