CORRECTION: Borno LGA Chairman, Director Primary Health Care apologies for misleading report on ISWAP attack in Mainok
By: Zagazola Makama
Stakeholders in Minok on Wednesday debunked the claim of attack by ISWAP on a healthcare facility in Mainok by the Chairman of Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State and the Director of Borno State Primary Healthcare Facility.
On December 25, the Chairman and the Director of Mainok Primary Health Care Center in Kaga LGA, granted a separate interview, claiming that ISWAP had attacked the facility and carted away drugs before putting it on fire in the middle of the night.
A stakeholders meeting was held on December 26, in the presence of the Commander 29 Task Force Brigade and Commanding Officer 156 Task Force Battalion, Wards, village heads and other community Members to clarify the cause of the fire incident at the facility.
However, during the meeting, the community leaders and other members of the community who witnessed the incident confirmed that the fire that gutted the facility was not as a result of terrorists action contrary to the claim by the council Chairman and Director of the State Primary Healthcare who granted separate interviews on the subject. Rather the fire was suspected to have been caused by electrical issues in the facility.
The community members further debunked the news reports about the terrorists incursion into Minok in the early hours of Monday 25 Dec. 2023 as reported by the duo. Both of whom do not reside in the community and were not present in the community during the incident.
The witnesses added that the locks on the healthcare facility main building and the freezer containing essential drugs in the building were both intact with non signs of any tempering which they observed was not typical of terrorist action.
They also confirmed that the troops of 156 Task Force Battalion deployed in the village on night patrol on the fateful day were the first responders to the scene and they also raised the alarm that alerts other members of the community on the fire incident.
Consequently, the meeting resolved to invite the LGA Chairman and the secretary scheduled at Minok on Wednesday Dec. 27 to Debunk their earlier statement to the press on the subject in order to clarify the misinformation and set the record in proper perspective.
The Chairman later apologized for misleading the public over his earlier statement which he did not clarify before speaking to the Press.
