Air Force unveils COVID-19 treatment centre

Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire

Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire and other dignitaries at the Nigerian Air Force COVID-19 centre

Minister of Health Osagie Ehanire and other dignitaries at the Nigerian Air Force COVID-19 centre
By Doris Esa/Abuja

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has converted the accident and emergency unit at the 063 NAF Hospital (NAFH) in Abuja into a COVID-19 management centre.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, the NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

He said that the ‘well-equipped’ accident and emergency unit was constructed and inaugurated in 2019 by the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar.

“The unit has been further upgraded with necessary medical equipment, as part of facilities designated in the Armed Forces COVID-19 Response Team’s contributions to the national response.

“The NAF, in addition, has also equipped and put on standby the newly-built 100-bunk students’ hostel at the Air Force Girls’ Comprehensive School (AFGCS), Abuja as an additional management centre, in the event of an upsurge in cases,’’ he said.

Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, after inspecting the two facilities on Friday, lauded the NAF’s leadership for converting and donating such facilities as part of its contributions to the Armed Forces Response Team’s plan.

Related News

He noted that the gesture would go a long way in improving the overall effectiveness of the national response to the pandemic.

The minister thanked the NAF for the recent donation of additional 30 cylinders of liquid oxygen to the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

The minister described the NAF as a strategic establishment, praised the service for sustaining the production of clinical oxygen from its Liquid Oxygen Plant in Yola.

He equally commended the recent reconfiguration of a C-130H aircraft to serve as an air ambulance for aeromedical evacuation, whenever the need arose.

On his part, the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi (rtd.), expressed the readiness of the ministry to partner with the National Emergency Response Team in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Magashi was represented by the Director of Health Services, Mrs Akinlade Oluwatoyin.

Load more