TROOPS of 5 Brigade of 7 Division, Nigerian Army, on Friday, destroyed Boko Haram training camps and hideouts in Kafiya forest, Borno State, killing several terror suspects in three villages of Gubio and Nganzai council areas.
Speaking Saturday in Maiduguri, spokesman of 7 Division Nigerian Army, Lt. Col Sagir Musa, said troops have liberated three villages which were under the “grip and control” of terrorists for over two years.
He said: “At the moment, the Kafiya camp, located in the forest, has been effectively destroyed by troops of 5 Brigade of 7 Division Nigerian Army. Several terrorists lost their lives during yesterday’s encounter with troops and the three villages are now, as I am speaking to you, freed from the grip of the insurgents.”
He added that troops of the brigade are continually patrolling the affected areas to “deter the terror suspects from regrouping and returning into the Kafiya forest.”
Meanwhile, the Borno State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Salma Anas Kolo, on Friday said the Boko Haram insurgency is a major factor behind recent rise in polio cases in the state.
The state, according to the commissioner, has 14 cases -the highest in Nigeria, as the nation recorded a total of 37 cases in 2013.
Speaking yesterday in Maiduguri at a sensitisation programme for traditional and religious leaders in the state, Kolo said the insurgency has “seriously impeded” the fight against polio, as insecurity to life and property has made it hard for health workers to immunise children below the age of five.
“The four-year insurgency has resulted in 14 cases of polio out of a total of 37 in Nigeria and a global total of 44 for 2013.”
On securing life and property, Lt. Col Sagir Musa said: “We have taken all necessary measures to protect the affected villagers and travelers in the three council areas. Soldiers will continue to use air strikes in the ongoing operation.
“Members of the general public are therefore requested not to panic, as the operation is intended to liberate affected residents from the insurgency.”
Dr. Salma Anas Kolo noted that the sensitisation programme is imperative in order to meet the 2014 World Health Organisation (WHO) target of freeing the globe of polio.
She told The Guardian that Maiduguri was picked for the kick off of the programme because it recorded the highest cases of six in the state with its neighbouring councils having four.
“It was not all a sad story, as the incidences could have been higher, but for the dedication of health workers that withstood the insecurity and went to some areas to get children immunised. We recorded 14 cases of polio this year,” she said.
The Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Garbai Al-Amin Elkanemi, who hosted the programme at his palace, called on his subjects to avail children below the age of five to the exercise.
He urged all traditional institutions in the state to intensify effort towards fighting polio, insisting that the government will not give them any drugs that would harm them.
Source :Guardian
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