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Medical Care Under Fire in South Sudan – MSF
JUBA – As entire towns in South Sudan suffer devastating attacks, medical care has also come under fire, with patients shot in their beds, wards burned to the ground, medical equipment looted, and, in one case, an entire hospital destroyed, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced today. Hundreds of thousands of people have been effectively denied life-saving assistance.
MSF staff witnessed the gruesome aftermath of recent armed attacks and clashes in Malakal in Upper Nile State, discovering patients murdered inside the town’s Teaching Hospital. In another disturbing violation of medical structures since conflict erupted in mid-December 2013, an MSF team returned to Leer, in Unity State, and discovered the hospital thoroughly looted, burned and vandalised. Vast parts of the town appear to have been razed to the ground.
“Assaults on medical facilities and patients are part of a broader backdrop of brutal attacks on towns, markets and public facilities,” said Raphael Gorgeu, MSF head of mission. “These attacks show a complete lack of respect for medical care and deprive the most vulnerable of life-saving assistance just when they need it most.”
Scenes of horror in Malakal
On February 22, MSF teams discovered at least 14 dead bodies throughout the Malakal Teaching Hospital compound, scattered among 50 to 75 patients who remained in the facility, too weak or elderly to flee for safety. Several patients showed signs they had been shot dead while lying in their beds. Many of the hospital wards, including the therapeutic feeding center for malnourished children, had been burned, and general looting had clearly taken place throughout the hospital. MSF has evacuated several of the most severely ill patients to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base in Malakal for treatment, 13 of whom were gunshot victims.
“Malakal is deserted, with houses burned throughout and countless dead bodies strewn in the streets,” said Carlos Francisco, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Malakal. “I can find no words to describe the brutality in Malakal, which has left in its wake a ransacked city and a thoroughly traumatised people.”
Some of the patients MSF evacuated to the UNMISS base recounted that armed groups entered the hospital on February 19 and shot dead people who had no money or mobile phones to hand over. Later that afternoon, armed men returned and killed patients in their beds and others who had fled to the operating theatre for safety, according to survivor testimonies. They also reportedly raped women and young girls.
Hundreds of thousands deprived of care in Leer
Hundreds of thousands of people have been cut off from critical, lifesaving medical care after Leer Hospital was ransacked and destroyed between the final days of January and early February.
When MSF staff were able to assess Leer Hospital following weeks of insecurity in the area, they discovered a horrific scene of equipment and buildings reduced to ash, drug vials smashed and strewn throughout the grounds, and sterilized surgical equipment broken and discarded everywhere. Drugs, patient beds, and other supplies were thoroughly looted. Not a hospital bed remains in the facility compound (see interactive guide displaying hospital destruction – email Heather Pagano for a copy).
“The people of Leer and throughout southern Unity State knew they could count upon MSF for critical medical care, and now that assurance is simply gone,” said Gorgeu. “The trust that is essential for us to carry out our work has been shattered, and the ultimate victims are the countless people who will suffer—and likely die—for want of medical care.”
The hospital in Leer, opened 25 years ago, was the only secondary healthcare facility in the region, constituting a critical lifeline for nearly 300,000 people in the surrounding area. In 2013 alone, more than 68,000 medical consultations were carried out, nearly 400 people underwent surgical care and 2,100 children were treated for malnutrition. Since December 15, when fighting erupted in South Sudan, and up to January 15, 2014, more than 4,000 consultations were carried out and nearly 170 surgeries were performed until the forced closure in late January.
“Leer is now empty of civilians who have fled continued insecurity and are living in terrible conditions in the bush, too terrified to return home,” said Sarah Maynard, MSF project coordinator for Leer. “But even if they were to come back tomorrow, or a month from now, they would return to ruins of their former home and no healthcare. This is catastrophic for the population.”
MSF’s 240 locally-hired staff remain hidden in the bush, struggling to treat patients with rapidly dwindling supplies. The staff report they are reusing wound dressings and trying desperately to assist the displaced who have grown more ill from drinking dirty river water and from eating water lilies for lack of food. MSF is exploring every avenue to provide healthcare to the displaced and resupply its staff.
“We must seriously consider if we can return to work in Leer Hospital,” said Gorgeu. “That will not only require significant investment of resources, but it will depend upon on unconditional respect from all parties for our medical facilities, staff, and patients, not only in southern Unity State but everywhere in the country.”
Disturbing pattern of medical care under fire in South Sudan
The atrocities in the hospital in Malakal and the destruction of Leer Hospital take place amidst a disturbing pattern of incidents affecting medical staff, patients, and MSF-supported facilities in South Sudan:
• In mid-January, armed men robbed and threatened staff at the MSF compound in Malakal, leading to a temporary suspension of MSF’s medical activities in the town.
• In mid January, the MSF compound in Bentiu, capital of Unity State, was looted amidst chaotic fighting in the town, which forced MSF staff to vacate Bentiu State Hospital and leave drugs and supplies with patients and their caretakers. Thousands of people had no access to healthcare for weeks in Bentiu town.
• Patients were reportedly killed in their beds in the hospital in Bor, capital of Jonglei State, during fighting in December 2013. In early February, MSF staff visited the hospital and discovered the decomposed corpses of a mother and child dumped in the facility’s water tank. While the hospital is today functional and well supplied, there are few patients in the wards since most of the town is empty.
“Medical care has come under fire in South Sudan,” said Gorgeu. “Rather than safe havens for treatment, hospitals are now targets of attack and brutality. They are places to fear rather than trust, a complete inversion of their purpose and role. Hundreds of thousands of people are in desperate need of shelter, food, water, and healthcare in South Sudan. The question is, how can effective, neutral aid be provided in a climate of utter disrespect and fear?”
Social media critic Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), has released what he described as his first piece of evidence after the Nigeria Police Force challenged him to substantiate his allegations that some police officers allegedly collaborate with kidnappers.
VDM released a video on his Instagram handle on Thursday, August 27, 2026, shortly after the police invited him to provide evidence supporting the claims he made at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt.
SEE MORE: ‘Provide Evidence’ — Police React to VDM’s Explosive Kidnap Allegation
The activist captioned the video: “My evidence number 1.”
Recalled that VDM, who was a panellist at the NBA conference on Tuesday, had alleged that some police officers manning checkpoints along major highways provide kidnappers and bandits with information about travellers.
According to him, the officers allegedly relay details about the identities and movements of travellers to criminal groups, thereby facilitating abductions for ransom.
The allegation triggered a response from the Nigeria Police Force, which denied the claim and challenged VDM to substantiate his allegations.
The police invitation came as the force sought evidence to support the serious claims made by the social media critic.
In response, VDM released the video, describing it as his “evidence number 1”, signalling that he may provide further material to support his allegations.
The development has continued to attract attention, with the controversy placing renewed focus on allegations of possible collaboration between security personnel and criminal groups involved in kidnapping and banditry.
A former Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Goke Adeboroye, has questioned how an alleged fake presidential agency was able to gain access to government facilities, budgetary provisions and office space without being detected.
Adeboroye spoke on Channels Television’s Inside Sources following the discovery of the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
SEE MORE: $1m Extortion Scheme: Fake EFCC Officials Arrested In Plot Against Former NPA MD
The ICPC had said the purported agency had no legal basis and operated with forged appointment letters and other official documents.
The commission also said its alleged Director-General, Adeniyi Matthew, was never appointed by the Federal Government.
The anti-corruption agency further disclosed that its investigation into the PFIPC led to the discovery of the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office, which it alleged was operating within the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation without proper authorisation.
Reacting to the development, Adeboroye described the situation as a major failure of the government’s bureaucratic system.
“The exposure of that fake presidential agency is a major lapse to say that somebody can actually come into the system, get in on the budget, get offices, and all of that,” he said.
The former permanent secretary identified weaknesses in the bureaucratic structures supporting key offices in the Presidency, including the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service.
According to him, the bureaucracy in these offices should be strong enough to support the President’s policies while also ensuring that fraudulent or unlawful directives do not gain effect.
“The bureaucracy in those offices are not strong enough to be able to help the President drive the vision at the speed and with the efficiency that he wants,” Adeboroye said.
He also stressed the importance of having professional and experienced civil servants who can scrutinise directives issued by political office holders.
Adeboroye said civil servants should be able to recognise suspicious communications purportedly coming from the Presidency because they are familiar with the official channels through which presidential approvals are transmitted.
“Whether the person brings fake or whatever, you as the civil servant should be trained to be able to detect what should be a genuine communication from the State House. You work in that system,” he said.
He explained that presidential approvals usually pass through established channels involving senior government officials.
“When the President approves anything, he always minutes to about three people. He goes to the Chief of Staff, he goes to SGF, and if he has something to do with civil service, the Head of Service will have it.”
Adeboroye recalled an incident from his time as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior involving a former governor who claimed to have presidential approval for a diplomatic passport.
He said the then Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Ude, cross-checked the purported approval before taking action and subsequently sought clarification on whether the former governor, who was no longer in office, should receive the diplomatic passport.
“That’s somebody using the experience of the system to ensure that you are not outplayed,” he said.
The former permanent secretary said similar verification could have been carried out in the alleged fake agency case through a simple phone call to the relevant government offices.
“So we would have expected that on a simple phone call, when I was working in the office of Ekaite, Secretary of Government, I could pick a phone, call any minister, call this, it’s just a phone call from the office of whoever to say, Chief of Staff, is this true? And that would have actually corrected it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding the National Brands Development and Made in Nigeria Special Project Office has continued.
The chairman of the project office, Musa Aliyu, had alleged that the office was allocated space within the OSGF premises without presidential authorisation.
However, the National Coordinator and Executive Director of the project office, George Nwabueze, denied the allegation, insisting that the office is a project office under the OSGF and has existed for 16 years.
Nwabueze also produced an appointment letter purportedly issued by the OSGF, conveying approval of his appointment as National Coordinator/Executive Director of the Made in Nigeria Project Office.
The conflicting claims have continued to raise questions about the authorisation and status of the project office and the alleged involvement of public officials in its operations.
The Labour Party has commended former President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat in the 2015 presidential election, saying his decision demonstrated that political power was not worth the blood of Nigerians.
The National Chairman of the Labour Party, Senator Nenadi Usman, made the statement on Tuesday in Bauchi State while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the 2026 Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Democracy Dialogue.
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The event, organised by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, was themed, “Beyond Elections: Can Political Parties and the Judiciary Save African Democracy?”
Usman said Nigeria’s democracy survived the tensions surrounding the 2015 election because Jonathan chose to put the national interest above his desire to remain in office.
She said, “Nigeria’s democracy survived the doomsday predictions of bookmakers in 2015 because of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat in that year’s election, even before the final votes were tallied.”
According to her, Jonathan’s approach to politics was exceptional, particularly because he had consistently maintained that neither his election nor remaining in power was worth the blood of any Nigerian.
Usman stated, “Such a principled approach to politics had never before been witnessed on the Nigerian political horizon. Jonathan, from the inception of his presidency, consistently maintained that neither his election nor remaining in power was worth the blood of any Nigerian.”
She added that Jonathan demonstrated the sincerity of his position when the 2015 election tested his commitment to the principle.
The Labour Party chairman urged politicians preparing for the 2027 general elections to emulate Jonathan’s non-violent approach to politics, respect democratic rules and place national interest above personal ambitions.
She also questioned whether politicians seeking the presidency in 2027 would be prepared to make similar sacrifices for national unity, particularly amid inflammatory rhetoric from some political camps.
Usman further recalled the saying attributed to Warren Buffett that someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
She argued that Nigerians are able to practise democracy today partly because Jonathan made sacrifices at a critical moment.
On the Labour Party’s preparations for the 2027 elections, Usman described the party as the most structured opposition political party in Nigeria.
She said the Labour Party’s relationship with the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress had strengthened its political structure nationwide.
Usman claimed that the party remained the only opposition party with a realistic presence across Nigeria’s 186,000 polling units.
She said, “With the combined strength of the NLC and the TUC, both of which are constitutional members of the party, no Nigerian political party is better positioned to show the APC government the exit door than the Labour Party.”
The democracy dialogue attracted several political leaders and dignitaries, including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice-President Namadi Sambo, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Others included former Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang, APC Deputy National Chairman, South, Dr Ben Nwoye, and the Emir of Bauchi, Dr Rilwanu Suleiman Adamu.
The dialogue provided a platform for discussions on strengthening democratic institutions, the role of political parties and the judiciary, and preventing democratic reversals across Africa.
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