Spiritual leader of Zion Prayer Movement Outreach Evangelist Ebuka Obi has explained the vision behind the free psychiatric hospital recently commissioned in Anambra State and the wider rescue programme operated by the Seraphic Homes Foundation.
Speaking during a press conference on Saturday, Evangelist Obi said his passion for helping vulnerable people began in childhood.
“When I was growing up, I had this passion that I cannot really explain,” he said. “If they give me my food, I will always share it with someone. I have a passion for helping the less privileged.”
Obi said the sight of mentally challenged people living on the streets motivated him to establish a hospital that would take them off the road and provide treatment and shelter at no cost.
“You cannot, in any way, see a mentally challenged citizen on the streets of New York, California or Europe,” he said. “It’s always in this part of the world that you can see someone abandoned on the street by the government and by the natives.”
He said he announced plans to build a psychiatric hospital years ago and that the project has now been completed and commissioned.
“His Excellency Governor Chukwuma Soludo was there when we commissioned the free psychiatric hospital in Anambra,” he said.
Obi added that the foundation has already started street rescues.
“We are going on the streets now, rescuing them, bringing them to the hospital that we built. Medication is free of charge, feeding is free of charge, and clothing is free of charge.”
He said the hospital employs doctors, nurses, psychologists and support workers who are paid monthly by the foundation.
“All of them are being paid. The doctors are there, nurses are there, psychologists are there,” he said.
According to him, the foundation does not accept cooked food donations for security reasons.
“What we don’t accept here is cooked food,” he said. “But if you bring raw rice, we will pray and we can allow it.”
Obi said he has asked the Anambra State Government for support.
“I asked the governor that I would like the Anambra State Government to support us more,” he said.
“He promised, and I know the government is going to do something.”
He added that the Seraphic Homes Foundation plans to replicate the project across the country.
“We hope to do the same in all the states of Nigeria,” he said.
The Seraphic Homes Foundation (SHF) is a non-profit organisation founded by Evangelist Ebuka Obi with the objective of supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged people.
The foundation provides scholarships, funds healthcare for patients who cannot afford treatment and operates facilities for orphans and the elderly.
Governor Hope Uzodinma commissioned its first Old People’s Home and Orphanage in Mgbirichi, Imo State, in April and in September, the foundation opened the first free Psychiatric Hospital and Home for the Elderly in Aguleri, Anambra State, inaugurated by Governor Charles Soludo.
Obi said the vision behind the psychiatric hospital is to create a society where mentally challenged persons are no longer abandoned on the streets.
