Sixty-one malnourished infants have been hospitalized on the orders of Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, after he relocated 478 children and 219 adults, all of them malnourished due to two years captivity in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents before they were rescued by the Nigerian Military.
A statement from the governor’s office which indicated this, said the victims were moved from Bama to a special care unit in Maiduguri on Monday, that dozens of buses conveyed them to a newly opened special care unit in Maiduguri.
The statement, signed by the governor’s spokesman, Isa Gusau, and mailed to Daily Trust yesterday, further said, “The 61 infants now hospitalized at Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital, owned by the State Government in Maiduguri, are undergoing medical care arising from extreme deprivation of food. They were part of the 478 children moved from Bama alongside 219 adults also malnourished. The adults consist of 196 women, some of whom gave birth to some of the 478 children. The rest of the adults are 23 men, looking thin.
“The victims were among those rescued by the military in continued operations against Boko Haram insurgents who in the last six years attacked communities, killing residents and abducting many. After ordering health and Emergency Management Agency staff to set up the special unit on Monday night, Governor Shettima was at the unit on Tuesday to meet the kids and parents. The Governor mobilized workers on water and sanitation, environment and other senior government officials. He personally supervised administration of care to the children and the parents.”
