IMSG Expresses Fear Over Polio Outbreak As Insecurity Forces Indigenes In Northern States To Return Home

Rochas OkorochaThe Imo state government has expressed concern over the possibility of the outbreak of Polio in the state following the continued return of Imo indigenes from the northern states, due to insecurity exacerbated by Boko Haram insurgency and killings.

Joe Obi Njoku, Imo State commissioner for Health, who confirmed the wild polio virus scare in the state, said, although the state has been polio free since 2005, “the massive return of Imo indigenes from the North due to Boko Haram issues is a thing of concern.”

He said at Nnenasa, headquarters of Njaba Local Government Area of the state that, because of the polio scare the state has insisted that, “every child no matter where he/she may be in the state should be reached and immunised to avoid the spread of this disease to others.”

Njoku said, “although all the 121 reported cases of polio in Nigeria by December 2012, were domiciled in the Northern states, the massive influx of people (especially fleeing Imo indigenes and other Nigerians) from that part of the country, into the state calls for caution; hence the statewide immunisation exercise.”