In a renewed push to eliminate polio from the North East, a joint delegation from the Borno and Yobe States Primary Health Care Management Boards (PHCMB) has sought enhanced security collaboration with the Theatre Command, Joint Task Force North East Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK).
Led by Professor Muhammed Arab Alhaji, Executive Secretary of the Borno State PHCMB, the delegation paid an advocacy visit to OPHK Headquarters in Maiduguri on Saturday.
The team urged stronger partnership to ensure the successful delivery of polio vaccination campaigns in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities under the World Health Organization’s Reaching Inaccessible Children (RIC) initiative.
Professor Alhaji stressed that without military support, reaching children in security-compromised areas would remain a major hurdle. He praised OPHK’s past assistance, noting that between 2016 and 2024, more than 432,000 children in previously inaccessible communities had been immunized with the help of the military.
Responding, Theatre Commander OPHK, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, lauded the health boards’ commitment to humanitarian work despite resource constraints. He pledged continued operational support to ensure the safety of health workers and the success of immunization drives.
The visit featured briefings on ongoing RIC efforts, interactive discussions on future strategies, as well as the exchange of plaques, signing of the visitor’s book, and a group photograph. Senior officers of OPHK, the Executive Secretary of Yobe State PHCMB, component commanders, and staff officers were in attendance.
