The two major rehabilitation centres in Imo State are grappling with significant challenges, ranging from logistical constraints to funding deficits, hampering their operations and efficient service delivery, an investigation by reporters has revealed.
The facilities are the Imo State Rehabilitation Centre for Destitutes, located in Umuneke, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area, and the rehabilitation unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Imo Command, situated on Aba Road, Owerri.
While the state-owned rehabilitation centre in Ngor Okpala handles general cases of destitution, the NDLEA facility specialises in treating drug-related mental disorders and abnormalities.
A visit to the Umuneke facility over the weekend by reporters revealed significant inadequacies in infrastructure, funding, personnel and medical supplies.
Speaking in an interview with reporters, the Reverend Father in charge of the centre, Fr. John Okafor, said the facility had a capacity for 100 patients but was constrained by various challenges to accommodate only 80.
Okafor said the centre, which has been managed by the Missionary Companions of St. Dunstan since August 2024, currently had 75 inmates.
He explained that the centre treats trauma, depression, mental instability and drug abuse.
According to him, the centre runs a skills acquisition programme to train recovering patients in sewing, plumbing, barbing and small-scale business management.
Okafor, who spoke through his assistant, Rev. Stanley Okoroafor, said the centre had recently recorded a major achievement with the successful treatment of a woman who had suffered from mental illness for 20 years following two years of intensive care.
He expressed delight that the woman, who is in her 60s, had reunited with her family and fully reintegrated into society.
The cleric said the centre had the potential to achieve much more but was severely constrained by inadequate funding.
He said the state government provided a monthly subvention of N150,000 to the centre.
“This is a major challenge. We have 75 patients and seven domestic staff, including two cooks, three security guards and two psychiatric nurses.
“We also have three seminarians and one reverend father,” Okafor said.
He identified poor infrastructure, particularly the dilapidated access roads leading to the centre, as another major concern. He cited the virtually impassable Ihitte–Umukabia Road and Ulakwo–Umuneke Road.
He called on well-meaning Nigerians, governments at all levels, corporate organisations and institutions to support the centre.
“This is to enable the centre to effectively discharge its responsibility of caring for destitute persons, many of whom currently roam the major towns and cities in the country,” he said.
He added that some patients had no traceable family members and would therefore require the centre’s assistance to reintegrate into society after full recovery.
The cleric said, “Our male and female hostels have a combined capacity of 100 persons, but because of dilapidation, we can accommodate a maximum of only 80 at present.
“We installed solar power in the administrative building because of the very poor public power supply here.
“We use a generator to pump water, and we spend so much on petrol.
“We also need an additional water storage tank to bring the number to two and meet our daily needs after one was stolen,” Okafor said.
He added that the high cost of medical supplies had become a serious concern and appealed to the public for urgent assistance.
Also commenting on the challenges facing the NDLEA rehabilitation facility in Imo State, the Head of Counselling, Treatment and Rehabilitation of the command, Dr. Edith Chinwe-Thompson, said the agency was grappling with inadequate infrastructure and other operational difficulties.
Chinwe-Thompson told reporters in Owerri that the command “takes care of drug-dependent persons and helps them come out of drug use”.
She said the patients comprised mainly young people who were voluntarily brought to the facility by their parents, as well as individuals detained for drug-related offences who were found to be in poor mental health.
She described the command’s drug demand reduction success rate as impressive and commendable.
“We have recorded over 90 per cent success because our services are both affordable and effective, with patients paying basically for their food only,” Chinwe-Thompson said.
According to her, patients admitted to the facility’s 20-bed complex initially undergo a three-month rehabilitation programme, which may be extended by another three months depending on their rate of recovery.
She said patients often developed increased appetites and cravings for sugary foods during rehabilitation, adding that feeding them was capital-intensive.
“The rehabilitation process is usually demanding, with patients needing to replace drugs with food as they recover.
“Therefore, there is an urgent need for additional logistical support to improve patients’ feeding,” Chinwe-Thompson said.
She identified insufficient mattresses, cupboards and other household items as some of the facility’s shortcomings.
“We need a standard rehabilitation facility, a stand-alone facility, not one built inside the command’s complex.
“We have enough space in the command, but we need a standard stand-alone structure.
“We also need standard sporting equipment and an alternative power source to improve the comfort of patients undergoing rehabilitation,” she said.
Chinwe-Thompson commended the agency’s management for thoroughly renovating the facility about four years ago and donating a sewing machine to support the patients’ skills acquisition programme.
However, she said additional training equipment was needed to expand the facility’s occupational therapy programme, which prepares patients for reintegration into society after recovery and discharge.
She expressed delight that patients were responding positively to treatment and had begun producing items such as soap, toilet wash and other products independently as part of their preparations for discharge.
She also expressed optimism that increased investment in the treatment and recovery of drug-dependent persons would help secure a better future for Nigeria.
Also speaking, a psychologist, Mrs. Winnie Obodo, called for increased government investment in the rehabilitation of people who abuse drugs and other psychotropic substances.
Obodo, a private counsellor, described rehabilitation as “capital-intensive” and urged well-meaning Nigerians to support rehabilitation initiatives rather than give up on patients.
Editorial notes:
Corrected grammatical errors, punctuation, spelling and awkward sentence structures.
Standardised references to the facilities, personnel and rehabilitation processes.
Changed phrases such as “successful cure” to “successful treatment” for more appropriate reporting language.
Retained the original facts, figures and quotations as much as possible while correcting grammar within quotations.
Please verify the exact names of the media organisation referred to as “reporters” and its correspondent, as well as the official designation of the NDLEA facility, before publication.
