A civil society group under the aegis of Centre for Human Rights and Advocacy in Africa Network, has condemned in the strongest terms, the demolition of the Margaret Lawrence University Teaching Hospital (MLUTH) multi-billion naira Cancer Center by officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

The world-class University Teaching Hospital is situated inside the high-brow River Park Estate Abuja. The construction of the Cancer Center started a year ago, with massive construction work on going at the project site. However, on Saturday, September 13, 2025, bulldozers of the FCTA rolled into River Park Estate, housing the gigantic University hospital facility and pulled the structure down to rubbles.

In a statement on Sunday, co-signed by its Executive Director, Mr. Henry Abba, and Director of Programmes, Michael Ikwebe, the group described the demolition as high handed, insensitive, barbaric and unacceptable and therefore condemned the action of the FCT Administration in its entirety. 

The group noted that information at its disposal suggested that no reason was advanced by the FCTA for its action. The Civil Society Organization expressed shock and disbelief that demolition of this magnitude could take place in contemporary Nigeria, and wondered what the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is aiming at in the high-value estate.The Executive Director said that the action of the FCTA was highly condemnable, unacceptable and could best be described as one demolition done in bad fate. According to the group, the demolition exercise was not only “Ill-timed but wicked”, just as it claimed the demolition was part of the FCTA's policy to claim portions of land within the estate.

The statement alleged that what is going on in the estate is a policy of land grabbing disguised as urban development. Meanwhile, efforts to get the Management of Margaret Lawrence University Teaching Hospital was futile as placed calls were not going through.