Army denies conducting immunisation exercise in Rivers

THE Nigerian Army, Headquarters 6 Division, Port Harcourt, has denied sending its officers and men out to forcefully vaccinate students in Rivers State, allegedly with unknown substance.

The denial was coming on the heels of a rumor making the rounds that some army personnel, dressed in military camouflage uniforms, were going round schools in the state with the intention to forcefully vaccinate the students.

Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Headquarters 6 Division, Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, however, debunked the insinuation in a statement made available to Tribune Online, on Tuesday.

“The callous and unpatriotic rumors spread by these enemies of state are, to say the least, despicable, deplorable and highly condemnable by all well-meaning Nigerians as they are intended to cause pandemonium among the general public,” the statement read.

Iliyasi, according to the statement, however said the Nigerian Army was planning to undertake such gesture, but with the consent of the appropriate authorities in the state.

He also disclosed that such an exercise would not be conducted in any school in the state, adding that anything suspected to the contrary should be reported to the army authorities.

“The authorities of 6 Division Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that while the Nigerian Army plans to undertake such gestures like free medical outreaches, sanitation exercises in host communities and distribution of educational materials as part of our community relations activities during the ongoing Operation CROCODILE SMILE II, these activities are yet to be conducted.

“They will eventually be conducted with the consent of relevant authorities of designated communities and at venues and dates that will be duly communicated to the general public through future press releases and relevant posters.

“For the purpose of emphasis, the Nigerian Army does not and will never carry out its medical outreaches or vaccination exercises for that matter in schools.

“We can therefore categorically inform the public that the ongoing rumors about Nigerian Army Personnel going round schools in military camouflage to forcefully immunise school children are not true and should therefore be discountenanced with,” the statement further read.

The army deputy spokesman gave out two dedicated mobile telephone lines, requesting members of the public to report any case of any impostor(s) that may be seen or suspected trying to commit such atrocities.