… Flags-off 3-Day Medical Outreach for Victims of Armed Banditry in Sokoto
Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire and officials of the NCDC and NAF at the commissioning in Abuja
The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has converted the Accident and Emergency Unit at the 063 NAF Hospital (NAFH) in Abuja to a COVID-19 Management Centre.
The well-equipped Accident and Emergency Unit, which was constructed and commissioned in 2019 by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, has been further upgraded with necessary medical equipment as part of facilities designated in the Armed Forces COVID-19 Response Team’s contribution to the National Response.
The NAF, in addition, has also equipped and put on standby the newly-built 100-bunk Students’ Hostel at the Air Force Girls’ Comprehensive School (AFGCS) Abuja as an additional Management Centre, in the event of an upsurge in cases.
Speaking shortly after inspecting the 2 facilities today, 19 June 2020, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, lauded the NAF’s leadership for converting and donating such superb facilities as part of its contribution to the Armed Forces Response Team’s plan, noting that the gesture would go a long way towards improving the overall effectiveness of the National Response to the Pandemic.
The Minister also acknowledged and thanked the NAF for the recent donation of additional 30 cylinders of liquid oxygen to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, disclosing that part of the oxygen had been deployed at the Asokoro Management Centre. He however used the occasion to solicit for the provision of additional quantity of oxygen from the NAF due to the high demand, especially at the Lagos Management Centres.
Responding, the Minister of Defence (HMOD), Major General Bashir Magashi (rtd), who was represented by the Director of Health Services, Mrs Akinlade Oluwatoyin, expressed the readiness of the MOD to partner with the National Emergency Response Team in the fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic which, he noted, informed the decision to emplace proactive measures to curb its spread in the Armed Forces.
Also present at the occasion were the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Major General Leo Irabor, who represented the Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin; the NAF Chief of Policy and Plans, Air Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao, who represented the CAS, as well as other dignitaries from the 2 Ministries, the AFN and allied Parastatals.
Meanwhile, the NAF has stepped in to mitigate the hardships currently being experienced by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sabon Birni Community in Sabon Birni Local Government Area (LGA) of Sokoto State due to the activities of armed bandits, by beginning a 3-day medical outreach in the area.
The medical outreach, an initiative of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, is also intended to enhance good civil-military relations between the NAF and the local community for improved information sharing. During the 3 -days of the outreach, the NAF Medical Team will undertake health education talks; free consultations and dispensing of medications; de-worming and immunization of children; distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets as well as visual acuity checks and provision of prescription eye glasses. Aside the healthcare services, some palliatives including food items, soaps, blankets and footwear were also distributed to assuage the sufferings of the IDPs.
Flagging off the medical outreach, the Sokoto State Commissioner of Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname, thanked the NAF for extending the gesture to Sabon Birni LGA describing it as timely and apt.
The Leader of the NAF Medical Team, Group Captain Ali Tanko, who is also the Director of Public Health and Humanitarian Services, NAF, stated that the medical outreach was the initiative of the CAS, who was moved by the plight of the displaced persons in the Local Government and promptly directed the Team to take swift action to provide them succour.
The District Head of Sabon Birni, Sarkin Gobir, Alhaji Isa Muhammadu Bawa, while receiving the palliatives on behalf of the IDPs and other members of the Community, expressed his profound appreciation to the NAF for the humanitarian gesture.
