Fulani herders will finish us, Nasarawa community cries out

• NEDC treats 100 VVF cases in Borno
• Bagudu approves renovation of 35 PHCs in Kebbi

Barmo Community in Wamba Local Council of Nasarawa State has appealed to governments at all levels to come to their rescue from the hands of Fulani herdsmen.

The appeal followed Monday’s murder of 30-year-old Samuel Monday by men believed to be herders.

It lamented that Fulani herdsmen had continued to terrorise the area, snatching motorcycles and destroying farmlands, among other atrocities.

The community made the plea when the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dogo Shammah, visited the bereaved family and Barmo Cement Community yesterday.

Barmo Village Head, Chief Yakubu Sarki, disclosed that the once stick-wielding herdsmen had taken to criminality.

“I am a victim of herdsmen’s attack. Recently, two Fulani men, well armed, attacked me in my farm,” he added.

The royal father confirmed that one of the herdsmen, who killed Monday and snatched his motorcycle, was arrested by youths of the community and handed over to the police in Wamba.

MEANWHILE, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has corrected 100 cases of Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) in Borno State.

The 10-day corrective surgery on the VVF patients was conducted at the state’s Specialists Hospital, Maiduguri, in collaboration with Fistula Foundation, Nigeria.

While flagging off the fistula repair campaign yesterday in Maiduguri, NEDC Board Chairman, Maj-Gen. Paul Tarfa (rtd.), who was represented by Asmau Mohammed, disclosed: “There are 250,000 women awaiting repairs in the country. Out of this, only 5,000 (1.2 per cent) were repaired every year.”

She added that 12,000 new cases of VVF also develop every year from the North East, attributing VVF to Boko Haram activities and increased poverty that hinder women’s access to healthcare.

ALSO, in its efforts at strengthening health care delivery in Kebbi State, Governor Abubakar Bagudu, yesterday, approved the renovation of 35 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state.

Disclosing this in Birnin Kebbi, the Commissioner of Health, Jafar Mohammad, added that the approval was in line with the present administration’s mission and vision of transforming the health sector and bringing sanity to the health institutions across the state.

“This approval will cover the 35 PHCs across the state, as the government iis also working towards the manpower to streamline all the health services in the state,” he added.

He applauded the governor’s wife, Dr. Zainab Shankafi, for her support and cooperation towards achieving the same objectives.