Nigerian Air Force (NAF) yesterday offered free medical services to over 1,000 people in Biseni local government area of Bayelsa State.
The medical outreach which is part of activities lined up to mark the 59th Anniversary Celebration of the NAF covered children, pregnant women and the elderly in the selected community.
A statement by the public relations officer mobility command, Squadron Leader Lawal Olayinka said over 1000 persons were treated for different ailments and medications offered.
“The services rendered by the NAF medical team during the outreach included free medical consultations, blood pressure checks as well as eye and blood screenings. Also, drugs, corrective glasses and insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed,” he said.
The Air Officer Commanding Mobility Command, Air Vice Marshal Elijah Ebiowe who was represented by the Command Operations Officer, Air Commodore Friday Ekpah, said that the NAF will continue to employ other non-kinetic measures to win the hearts and minds of its host communities.
He said this was not the first time the NAF is extending this kind of gesture to the people of Bayelsa State.
“The Nigerian Air Force since 2012, was at the forefront of airlifting relief materials and evacuation of victims of flood disasters in the state in addition to working in concert with other security agencies and the state government to guarantee the safety of lives and property in the entire state,” he said.
He added that the NAF has made several gains in the various theatres of operations in the country, to bring lasting peace and security to all.
He added that the medical outreach is therefore designed as a civil-military cooperation effort, to win the hearts and minds of residents of host communities and for them to know that the military is not all about guns and violence, so that they can volunteer information to security agencies in the quest to secure lives and property.
In his remarks during the flag-off ceremony, the commissioner for health, Bayelsa State, Dr Pabara Newton Igwele, said the state is honoured to have the NAF conduct this kind of non-kinetic operation in Biseni community.
According to him, “This is not the first time the NAF will be conducting an outreach such as this in the state. The service has been at the forefront of providing humanitarian assistance to the state whenever the need arises.
“I am happy to recount that the Nigerian Air Force has a long history of providing humanitarian assistance to the state whenever the need arises. One such assistance was a similar medical outreach to the one we are having today which was conducted at Gbarantoru Community on 18th May 2021. The outreach, in no small measure, helped to ameliorate the health challenges in the community at the time,” he added.
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