NAF Performs 69 Surgeries On IDPs In Borno
BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Friday said its medical outreach team has successfully performed 21 general surgeries and 48 eye surgeries on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the various camps.
It said the feat was achieved as part another round of its medical outreach programme in Borno State with the commencement of Operation RUWAN WUTA II.
This is just as the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar Sadiq has directed that surgeries be carried out at no cost to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), for those requiring surgical interventions.
Chief of Medical Services of the NAF, Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Saleh Shinkafi, who stated this, further said the medical outreach programme is an initiative of the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
Shinkafi said the programme is designed to win the hearts and minds of the locals in the conflict areas as part of the overall campaign against insurgency.
He said during the programme, free medical treatment would be provided to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), whose number could increase as a result of the intensive day and night aerial bombardments by the NAF.
AVM Shinkafi also said A team of additional medical specialists has been deployed to the NAF 105 Composite Group Medical Centre to augment the existing medical manpower for the programme, adding that upon deployment, the medical team immediately started attending to critical surgical cases in IDP camps around Maiduguri.
A statement by the Director, Public Relations of the NAF, Air Commodore Olatokunbo Adesanya said the Force intends to extend the medical outreach to the IDPs in Monguno, where it is estimated that a minimum of 4000 IDPs will receive free medical treatment and another set of 250 will benefit from free surgical interventions within a 2-day period.
Adesanya said; “This is the fifth cycle of free surgical interventions lined up by the NAF for the IDPs in the past two years during which an average of 200 surgeries are carried out per cycle.”
The NAF commenced Operation RUWAN WUTA II, a few days ago as part of its plan to further degrade the capability of the Boko Haram terrorists.
