Nigeria targets one million children for polio vaccination
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
The United Nations Children’s Fund and Sokoto State aim to vaccinate more than one million Nigerian children against polio. The campaign, conducted despite insecurity and difficult access to some communities, is part of World Polio Day activities, Punch reports.
UNICEF and the Sokoto State Government in north-west Nigeria are targeting more than one million children for a polio vaccination campaign, Punch reports. The operation is taking place amid insecurity and difficulties accessing some communities.
Activities organised around World Polio Day 2026 included an awareness rally on Saturday and a para-football tournament featuring polio survivors on Friday. The rally set off from Sokoto Specialist Hospital, passed through Marina and Gobirawa, then returned to its starting point. Participants called on parents and caregivers to accept the free vaccine for children.
Issa Ibrahim, a social policy specialist at UNICEF, said insecurity and limited access to some localities were hindering vaccination. He called for community leaders, health workers and local media to be mobilised to reach children in hard-to-access areas. Nigeria is expected to be polio-free by the end of the year, he added.
Umar Gada, director of advocacy, communication and social mobilisation at the Sokoto State Primary Health Care Development Agency, also spoke during the campaign. Issa Ibrahim said the state government had set up an executive committee to oversee vaccination activities.
