From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Nigerian Army has organised a medical outreach to provide medical services to the aged, poor and vulnerable residents of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division Nigeria Army Maiduguri, Brig-Gen Abdulwahab Eyitayo, flagging off the medical outreach and distribution of foods at Madinatu Mosque, in Old Maiduguri on Monday, said the services were designed to support the old ones, physically challenged and weak in the area once an epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency.
The exercise according to the GOC, the outreach was part of a series of events lined up for the 2021 Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL).
‘We have well over 500 bags. Additional one will be added to these after we have exhausted what we have on now. It is for old people and the feeble, the sick and needy,’ Gen Eyitayo disclosed.
He said the provision of the medical services and distribution of foods to the community was to support the vulnerable ones aside from the army’s engagement in the counter-insurgency operation.
He explained that the Nigerian Army Day Celebration started after Nigeria’s 30-month civil war fought by army personnel to protect the territorial integrity of the country. He said the celebration was to show appreciation to officers, soldiers and those that sacrifice their lives to ensure peace return to the country in 1970.
Nigeria fought the civil war between July 1967 and January 1970.
‘It becomes an annual event for the Nigerian Army signifying the replacement of war with peace,” he disclosed. He said residents of the Madinatu area were chosen for the food distributions and medical services because of the impact of the insurgency in the area.
Madinatu, a Maiduguri suburb located some metres away from Boko Haram’s birthplace and initial enclave, was the insurgents’ hideout between 2012 and early 2014.