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ICRC conducts 19,000 surgeries on victims of insurgency in 9 years
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has conducted more than 19,000 free surgeries on victims of armed conflicts at the Maiduguri Specialist Hospital since inception in 2015.
Mr Adal-Elah Tailkh, ICRC’s Administration Officer at the hospital told newsmen in Maiduguri on Wednesday that the surgical unit admitted 279 patients and conducted 1,090 surgical procedures in the first eight months of 2023.
Tailkh said the unit had been providing surgical care for victims of blasts; those with gunshot wounds and had trained health personnel in Borno.
“Patients in ICRC-supported surgical programme receive support services of national and international standards.
“Beyond the free surgical care, the project works with the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital’s Physical Rehabilitation Centre to where it refers patients in need.
“Patients in need can also benefit from access to mental health, psychosocial and physiotherapy at the state’s specialists hospital,’’ Tailkh said.
Some blasts and gunshot victims receiving treatment at the hospital who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) lauded ICRC’s relief efforts.
A 30-year-old pregnant woman, Zainab Abdulrahman, receiving gunshots treatment, said she was a victim of insurgents’ activities on Aug. 15 while travelling in a commercial vehicle inside Borno.
“I was hit by three bullets in my legs and thigh. The army brought me here for treatment.
“This is my second time of coming here for free treatment. Three years ago I was here for nine months after I was hit in the stomach in a Boko Haram attack,’’ she said.
Another victim, a 25-year-old Auwal Danladi said he was first brought to the unit in 2015 as a result of injuries from a bomb blast in Damaturu.
Danladi said he was treated and discharged, but had to return after some years due to some complications.
“I thank the ICRC for the free treatment, which include feeding. We do not know how things would have been without the ICRC,’’ Danladi said.
Also speaking with newsmen, some employees of the Borno Ministry of Health who benefitted from training opportunities provided by the ICRC said it provided them experience and modern facilities that eased their jobs.
Dr Kalakwa Abdulmumin, a consultant said the ICRC intervention gave him and some other personnel the needed opportunity to sharpen their skills.
“There is always that opportunity for weekly training that boost our knowledge,’’ Abdulmumin said.
The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has warned against obstructing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out its lawful duty .
Fagbemi’s warning is contained in a statement in Abuja.
“This is a matter of very grave concern, it is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigations into any matter, regardless of status.
“Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC, but to honourably answer their invitation.
“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting’’.
He added that running away from the law will not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbate them.
“Nigeria has a vibrant judicial system that is capable of protecting everyone who follows the rule of law in seeking protection.
“I therefore encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism.
“This can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world’’.
He said institutions of state should be allowed to function effectively and efficiently.
“I stand for the rule of law and will promptly call EFCC, and indeed any other agency to order when there is an indication of any transgressions of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian by any of the agencies’’.
NAN reports that the EFCC had on Wednesday warned members of the public that it was a criminal offence to obstruct officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties.
Section 38(2)(a(b) of the EFCC Establishment Act makes it an offence to prevent officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties. Culprits risk a jail term of not less than five years.
The warning , the EFCC said, became necessary against the background of the increasing tendency by persons and groups under investigation by the Commission to take the laws into their hands by recruiting thugs to obstruct lawful operations of the EFCC.
On several occasions, the anti graft agency said, operatives of the Commission have had to exercise utmost restraint in the face of such provocation to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
Some unknown gunmen have kidnapped Joshua Rogers, the ChannelsTV reporter in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Politics Nigeria learnt that Rogers was picked up close to his residence at Rumuosi in Port Harcourt and to an unknown destination by the gunmen around 9pm on Thursday, April 11.
The reporter was driving his official ChannelsTV branded car when the hoodlums accosted, pointed a gun at him and took him away in the same vehicle.
Rogers was said to be returning from his official assignment in Government House after a trip to Andoni for a government event when the incident happened.
Already, the gunmen were said to have contacted his wife and demanded a N30million ransom for bis release.
His cameraman confirmed the incident and appealed to his abductors to set him free unconditionally.
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