The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Wednesday 25 July 2018, commenced a 3-day medical outreach for an estimated 2,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Katsina State.
The medical intervention programme, which is an initiative of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, comes to an end today, 27 July 2018.
The medical outreach holding at Jibia Central Primary School in Jibia Local Government Area of the State, is part of the NAF humanitarian efforts at mitigating the plights of the victims affected by the recent flood that ravaged some parts of Katsina State and rendered thousands of residents homeless.
The first day of the programme attracted a large turnout of beneficiaries who expressed satisfaction with the medical services received from the NAF Medical Team.
The people also expressed their gratitude to the NAF for the humanitarian gesture and for remembering them in their time of need.
The medical services provided during the first day of the outreach included mass de-worming of children, medical checkups, distribution of treated mosquito nets, eye glasses and drugs while patients with surgical cases were also operated upon.
Speaking during the event, the Director of Public Health and Humanitarian Services, Headquarters NAF, Group Captain Azubuike Chukwuka, said the NAF was in Katsina to provide humanitarian services for the victims of the recent flood.
According to him, “Following the directive of the CAS to extend our humanitarian services to the persons affected by the recent flood by bringing medical team to attend to them, we intend to be here for three days and we hope to attend to 2,000 patients and perform about 40 surgeries”.
The Head of Local Government Administration in the State, Alhaji Almustapha Idris Dan-Musa, appreciated the NAF for the kind gesture and the provision of free healthcare for the people of Jibia.
According to him, the medical outreach was a great relief to his people who had lost lives and properties to the flood. It would be recalled that the NAF recently had a 3-day special surgical intervention and medical outreach for IDPs and residents of Barkin Ladi in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State following the violence in the area.
Olatokunbo Adesanya
Air Vice Marshal
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force
