Gombe father submits son for measles vaccination after evading immunisation in school

Delaying or refusing some or all vaccines for your child puts their health and life at risk, this is an old message that is rapidly being understood in Gombe State especially with the impressive turnout of parents bringing their children to participate in the ongoing 2025 Integrated Measles–Rubella and Polio Campaign, amongst whom is Malam Abdulkarim Bello.

Bello, a father of eight children, on Tuesday rode his nine-year-old son on his commercial motorcycle to Bolari West Primary HealthCare Centre to supervise his immunisation against measles.

Our Correspondent reports that the boy who ran away from school to evade taking the vaccine being administered to his colleagues by Community Health Workers who came to his school in Bolari West, was made to take the vaccine under the watchful eyes of his father.

Bello, a motorcyclist in Gombe said he came home to have a rest having worked for hours to earn some income to take care of his household, only to meet his son who left home earlier for school.

On probing the child, knowing full well that the school was yet to close for the day, “ I learnt that he ran away from school just to evade taking the vaccine.

“ I had to suspend my job and bring him here (to Bolari PHC) to get him vaccinated under my supervision.

“I am doing this because I don’t want to see him sick, I heard over the radio that the vaccine is available and good for them, that’s why I brought him.

“I brought him because his running away from school is like running away from what will protect him.

“As his father, I have the right to ensure that he is healthy because his elderly ones had also taken the vaccine,” he said.

He said with the damage that measles and other children-related illnesses had done to children, “I will not allow my son to reject the vaccine that should protect him against such life-threatening illness.”

Bello urged parents, particularly fathers to support the exercise by bringing their children out for vaccination as a way of protecting them from childhood killer diseases.

Bello’s conviction about the relevance of vaccines in improving the health of his children, has highlighted the positive role of the media in efforts at boosting the health of children in the state while reducing infant mortality.

Gombe father submits son for measles vaccination after evading immunisation in school

Police arrest soldier, vigilante commander over ritual killing in Adamawa

By: Zagazola Makama

The Police Command in Adamawa has arrested a serving soldier and a vigilante commander for allegedly killing a woman for ritual purposes in Mubi North Local Government Area of the state.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that the arrest followed a distress call received by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Mubi North at about 12:00 p.m. on Oct. 21, reporting that an unidentified female corpse was found behind the Adamawa State University fence with multiple stab wounds.

“On receipt of the report, the DPO led a team of detectives to the scene, took photographs, and evacuated the corpse to the Federal Medical Centre, Mubi, for autopsy,” the sources said.

According to the sources , preliminary investigation led to the arrest of one Private Tanko Salihu, attached to 93 Battalion, Ada Barracks, Takum, Taraba State, and one Yahaya Idi Gadzama, a vigilante commander in Mubi North.

The police said both suspects confessed during interrogation to conspiring and killing the woman for ritual purposes.

The sources said that the Commissioner of Police, CP Dankombo Morris, has directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for discreet investigation and prosecution.

He condemned the heinous act and assured residents of the command’s commitment to bringing all perpetrators of crime and criminality to justice.

Police arrest soldier, vigilante commander over ritual killing in Adamawa

NHRC charge security agencies to respect rights of affected

By: Bodunrin Kayode

The National Human Rights Commission has called on security agencies and government actors in conflict regions to respect the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees and asylum seekers Nation wide.

The call was made recently by the Executive Secretary (ES) of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Dr Tony Ojukwu during a collaborative training session held in Maiduguri on the mainstreaming of human rights and humanitarian responses during daily operations by security and government actors.

Dr Ojukwu who was represented by his special Assistant, and head of monitoring of the organization, Dr Benedict Agu who flagged the two days training open for participants from both military and the civil society said the gathering was timely considering what goes on in various theatres of war in Nigeria.

Welcoming participants to the training, the ES noted that the meeting was an activity under the Project: ‘NHRC/UNHCR 2025 Project on the Protection of Human Rights of idps, refugees, asylum seekers and returnees through Information/Data Collection and Documentation in Nigeria’.

Dr Ojukwu noted that the Commission was implementing the project with the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and was going to make it a yearly activity until the apathy against these vulnerable people is reduced to the minimum.

Dr Ojukwu maintained that he appreciated the continuous support of UNHCR in providing the much-needed assistance towards the promotion and protection of the rights of these persons for whom the Commission and UNHCR works with.

“The plight of these people because of insurgency activities/armed conflicts, flooding and drought etc should be of concern to all, hence, the continuous intervention by NHRC with the support of UNHCR.

“This year’s project cycle commenced in January 2025 in the three most impacted LGAs in the 11 states of Adamawa, Akwa- Ibom, Borno, Benue, Cross-River, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

“Human Right Monitors (HRMs) and Community Protection Action Group (CPAGs) members were trained and deployed to these selected LGAs where they work closely with the staff of UNHCR to gather and send reports regularly to the report harmonization team at the Commission’s headquarters.

“The HRMs and CPAGs visit the detention facilities in within their area of coverage in the different IDP camps, returned communities and host Communities in identifying and reporting protection/ human rights issues as well as referring these protection issues to different MDAs for appropriate response.”

Ojukwu hinted that the project has recorded a good number of targeted responses from the MDAs and humanitarian actors adding that the Commission, therefore, deems it necessary to engage with the security and government actors who may have one thing or the other with regards to the above stated populations under the Project for better coordination and understanding so as to continue to give positive human rights and humanitarian responses to matters concerning them.

“The identified protection issues are not just mere needs of these mandated population for NHRC, rather they are issues that may breach the enjoyment of their fundamental human rights. These issues must be seen as violations of the rights of these persons who have been made vulnerable through displacement due to the insurgency and other related conflicts.

“One of the purposes of this engagement is to highlight some of the protection issues and/or human rights/humanitarian concerns and encourage the responsible agency of government and relevant humanitarian actors to make efforts at resolving them early. ” He stressed.

The ES stated that the engagement with MDAs and humanitarian actors is also to promote and facilitate information sharing on areas of humanitarian activities in the states.

” It will also provide the needed link between the HRMs, CPAG members and the MDAs in relation to referral pathways to enable them respond in real time to the challenges faced by the NHRC mandated populations.” Said the ES.

Barrister Ojukwu posited that it was important that the meeting was held at this point in time to enable Protection and Humanitarian Actors identify potentials and future collaboration areas adding that the meeting will also present a learning opportunity for participant observers involved in protection and humanitarian interventions in war theatres nation wide.

In his presentation titled “Understanding UNHCR mandate and the humanitarian situation in the north East of Nigeria Dan Bisu said that 123.2 million humans are displaced worldwide with African having 38.1 million of that and Nigeria occupying a big chunk of that number

Out of this statistics, 73.5 million of them are IDP’s while 36.8 million are asylum seekers with the middle East and north Africa contributing to 32.9 million of that figure.

Meanwhile 3.45 percent of the globally forcibly displaced population in 2024 are said to be Nigerians.

It is a known fact that during the last 16 years of insurgency, human rights of these individuals have been badly abused especially by their camp managers at a time when the vulnerable needed protection and humanitarian interventions for their survival.

It expected that stakeholders after the training will strengthen collaboration that will counter the disturbing trend of human rights violations in the Northeast Hadin Kai war theatre which has witnessed thousands of deaths due to back and forth movement of IDP’s and refugees running for their lives across the bobby traps of improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the savannah.

The training was attended by troops representatives of Operations Hadin Kai, civil defense, the Nigerian police, DSS, immigration, other paramilitary organizations, ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s).

NHRC charge security agencies to respect rights of affected