A philanthropic organisation, De Imperial Philanthropic Family (DIPF), has cleared hospital bills totalling ₦43.4 million for 72 indigent patients at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital (AE-FUTHA) in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. The gesture is part of the group’s ₦500 million intervention fund dedicated to addressing health and education challenges across Nigeria’s South East region. In addition to settling the bills, DIPF also presented each beneficiary with ₦75,000 as transport support, amounting to ₦5.2 million in cash assistance.

Speaking during the presentation ceremony at AE-FUTHA 2, Dr. Darlington Nwabunike, President of DIPF, said the initiative aligns with the group’s mission to improve lives through healthcare and educational empowerment. He noted that the group, made up of entrepreneurs and professionals from the South East, was founded to “save lives, send children to school, and lift the poor from grass to grace.” Nwabunike added that DIPF had not been contacted by the hospital before the intervention but felt divinely inspired to assist after learning about patients who could not afford to pay their bills.

According to him, DIPF’s activities extend beyond healthcare to include scholarship awards and classroom construction projects in public schools across the region. “When I saw the list of patients and their unpaid bills, it was heartbreaking. By the grace of God, we are here to help, and we will not stop,” he said, assuring AE-FUTHA’s management of the group’s continued partnership in improving healthcare delivery and access.

The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Dr. Robinson Onoh, commended DIPF for its unsolicited humanitarian gesture, describing it as a lifeline for many patients. “What makes this unique is that we didn’t reach out to them—they came on their own. You have brought joy and hope to patients who were stranded for months,” Onoh said, while appealing for DIPF’s support in the hospital’s upcoming heart surgery programme. One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Sunday Masomachi, expressed gratitude on behalf of others, saying, “You have changed our lives, and we will never forget this day.”