Gombe Govt Laments Over Fleeing Boko Haram Victims Into State

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The Gombe State Government Wednesday expressed concern over the influx of people from neighboring states who are fleeing from the ongoing violent confrontation between the security forces and members of the Boko Haram sect in the North East states of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa.

The state said that following the increasing number of people , it is faced with a lot of challenges especially in the provision of adequate health facilities and security.

The state commissioner for Health, Dr. Ishaya Kennedy who represented the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo on the occasion of the handing over ceremony of the 10 bedded chest clinic which was built and equipped by a consortium of oil companies, the Agbami partners at the Zambuk General Hospital in the state, noted that the state is currently being overwhelmed by the rush in the treatment of infectious diseases from people from outside Gombe state.

According to Kennedy, the influx of people has shot up the population of the state from about a 3m to over 4m, stressing that it has forced the state to adjust its expenditure from its limited resources as more attention is currently paid to the provision of adequate health facilities and security.