‘Killing of polio vaccinators will cause setback’

Category: News Published on Monday, 11 February 2013 05:00 Written by Christiana T. Alabi, Kaduna

The killing of ten polio vaccinators by gunmen in Kano State on Friday will bring about a setback to Nigeria’s fight against polio and the campaign for immunisation, national chairman of Journalists Initiatives on Immunisation Against Polio (JAP), Mr Kunle Sanni, has said.

Speaking in Kaduna yesterday, JAP chairman condemned the killing of the polio vaccinators describing the incident as shocking.

“The killing of polio vaccinators in Kano State is a dastardly act that must be condemned by all. It is shocking, puzzling and a setback on Nigeria’s target to achieve zero case of polio by June and interrupt the spread of the disease by December 2013. These vaccinators volunteered their time and energy to carry out the immunisation exercise to stop Nigerian children from being killed and crippled by polio, but they were killed just like that,” he said.

He said Kano is one of the states with the highest polio cases in Nigeria, and that the recent efforts by Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso to end the spread of the disease may suffer as a result of the killings.