Army provides free medical service to 300 Bakassi IDPs

No fewer than 300 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bakassi local government area of Cross River on Friday benefited from the free medical outreach conducted by the 13 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Calabar.

Brig.-Gen. Sani Mohammed, Commander of the Brigade, said that the humanitarian medical outreach was part of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai’s vision on civil-military relations.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IDPs are camping at Ikot Effiong/Obutong primary school in Bakassi local government area of the state.

Mohammed said that the Army decided to reach out to the IDPs because they needed adequate medical service to keep them in good health.

"We are here today to offer free medical treatment to the IDPs. When you look around and see where they are camping, you will believe that they really need adequate medical care.

"We are here with our full medical team that will carry out different test on the IDPs and also administer them with drugs.

"Earlier today, we also carried out a similar medical outreach in the barracks where the children/wards of soldiers and friends of the Army were equally tested and administered with drugs,’’ he said.

The commander advised the IDPs to have a positive outlook towards life, adding that the Army would always remember them in their activities.

NAN reports that the IDPs were tested for malaria, blood pressure, hepatitis, typhoid and fever, among others, while drugs were equally administered to them.

Speaking, the Coordinator of the camp, Mr Aston Inyang, thanked the Army for their humanitarian medical outreach.

Inyang said that they were brought to the camp on Oct. 4, 2009, after the ceding of the oil rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon on Aug. 14, 2008.

According to him, the camp has been neglected by the government and appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid.

"We have not been given fair attention as it concerns health. Our camp is so large that we are supposed to have our own separate health care centre built by the government.

"From 2009 to now, we have lost over 40 persons which include women, men and children and a lot are still under medical challenges because they have no money to access medical treatment,’’ he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Eno Samson, who thanked the Army for their medical assistant, appealed to other corporate bodies and philanthropists, to also assist them in the areas of food, security and shelter.