Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja has commissioned a remodeled medical center for 401 Special Forces Brigade, Makurdi.
Lagbaja inaugurated the facility on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at the Joe Akahan Military Cantonment, Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
In a statement by the director of army public relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, Lagbaja stated that the Makurdi project was used as a model design for the development of other medical facilities in the Nigerian Army.
The centre, which is said to be off the national grid, was installed with a 150KVA solar smart inverter system with a 100KVA diesel-powered generator as backup in the rainy season and periods of heavy cloud cover.
The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the centre is also equipped with basic life support machines to save lives before referral to a higher or more advanced tertiary facility, should the need arise.
The army chief noted further that for the delivery of pregnant women in the Cantonment, the labour and maternity wards have equally been upgraded to eradicate maternal and infant mortality, often occasioned by lack of essential equipment.
He assured that with the new facility, for women of child-bearing age, there should be no cause for alarm.
Gen Lagbaja disclosed that similar interventions have since commenced in the brigade medical centres in Lokoja and Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos, while that of the Gibson Jalo Cantonment, Yola is the next in line.
Gen Lagbaja stated that the ongoing intervention in NA medical facilities is only one of the numerous efforts to upgrade NA welfare facilities in line with the sound administration beam of his Command Philosophy.
He asserted his belief in adequate support for the home front and good welfare package necessary to strengthen the moral component of fighting power, emphasizing that “when our troops are well-led and well-catered for, they will fight well to secure our dear country from internal and external threats”.
The commander of 4 Special Forces Command, Major General Hillary Nzan, noted that the medical facility will not only bring succour to the cantonment community, but also to the adjoining communities, as its services will be open to the civil populace.
