NAF Sustains Medical Outreach in Borno

NAF Sustains Medical Outreach in Borno
As part of the recently commenced Operation RUWAN WUTA, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has commenced another round of medical outreach programme in Borno State. The new round of medical outreach programme is primarily aimed at enhancing available NAF medical facilities and personnel at the Medical Centre of NAF 105 Composite Group (CG) Maiduguri.

This is to position the Medical Centre to adequately attend to the anticipated increase in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of the intensive day and night aerial bombardments by the NAF. According to the NAF Chief of Medical Services Branch, Air Vice Marshal Saleh Shinkafi, the programme is an initiative of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, and it is also designed to win the hearts and minds of the locals in the conflict areas. He added that a team of different medical specialists was deployed to the 105 CG Medical Centre to augment the existing medical manpower for the operation. He further stated that the CAS had also directed that surgeries be conducted, at no cost to the IDPs, for those requiring surgical interventions.

Upon deployment, the medical team immediately started attending to critical surgical cases in IDP camps around Maiduguri, including Bakassi, NYSC, Gubio, Teachers’ Village, CAN Centre, Shuari, Farm Centre, Goni Kachalai, Muna Garage and Dalori. So far, the NAF medical outreach team has successfully performed 23 general surgeries and 30 eye surgeries on IDPs from the various camps at no cost to the IDPs. Additionally, the team of medical specialists today extended the medical outreach to the IDP camp in Rann from where over 30 IDPs have already been airlifted by a NAF helicopter for surgical interventions at the NAF medical facilities in Maiduguri. The outreach programme is still ongoing and it is envisaged that surgeries would be conducted on about 150 IDPs during the exercise. This is the fourth in the series of surgical interventions lined up by the NAF for the IDPs in Borno State.

It is recalled that the NAF commenced Operation RUWAN WUTA, a few days ago, to further degrade the capability of the Boko Haram Terrorists thereby preventing them from regrouping to cause havoc.

OLATOKUNBO ADESANYA
Air Commodore
Director of Public Relations and Information
Nigerian Air Force