The Nigeria Air Force, said on Friday that it had embarked on medical outreach that would see it treating 3, 400 persons displaced by Boko Haram insurgency in Rann community of Borno.
Group Capt. Azubuike Chukwuka, the Director, Public Health and Humanitarian services, Air Force Headquarters, stated this while inspecting the ongoing exercise at the Medical Centre, 105, Air Force Composite Command, Maiduguri.
Chukwuka said that the exercise was part of NAF’s medical intervention designed to better the medical conditions of displaced persons in the country.
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“We are here on humanitarian service to attend to the medical and surgical need of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Borno State, basically displaced persons in Rann community. You can recall that due to Boko Haram activities the United Nations (UN) officials and Doctors without Borders (MSF) left Rann.
“The Chief of Air Staff do not want humanitarian catastrophe that is why medical deployed to render humanitarian services. We came with a team of surgeons, gynaecologists, ophthalmologists, dentists and others, to come and alleviate the medical and surgical needs of the displaced persons in Borno.
“We targeted about 3, 400 patients, the exercise is ongoing our team is in Rann, we screen the patients there and flown them to Maiduguri for surgery to enable us to practice standard operating procedures.”
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Chukwuka added that the patients including women and children would be provided with free medications in the exercise.
According to him, the service has conducted similar exercises at various IDPs camps and plans to extend its outreach to other communities to improve the health condition of displaced persons in the country.
Some of the beneficiaries of the free surgical treatment lauded the gesture.
Mrs Maryam Umar, who expressed joy over the gesture, said her three-year old daughter benefitted from a facial surgery, adding that the girl was born with the ailment.
Also, Muhammad Ibrahim, 65 and Ciroma Arima, said they were treated of cataract disease at the NAF medical centre.
Ibrahim said: “I can barely see before due to impaired vision, now that I undergo surgery I hope to regain my sight.
“They came to our camp in Rann, examined my eyes and offered treatment including free drugs and other medications,’’ he said. (NAN)
