Children from Niger Republic Vaccinated Against Polio in Katsina 

Francis Sardauna in Katsina

Dozens of parents from Niger Republic have thronged polio vaccination fixed posts in Kongolam, Mai’adua Local Government Area of Katsina State with their children to immunise them against poliovirus and other child-killer diseases.

Kongolam, a border town between Nigeria and Niger Republic, is known for its bustling markets and strong cross-border economic ties between Nigeriens and Nigerians.

Though it faced significant downturns due to border closures, with residents frequently appealing for reopening and improved management by relevant authorities.

Despite its official closure during late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and political impasse between ECOWAS and Niger, Nigerien parents trooped the border community with their children for vaccination against the highly infectious poliovirus.

When THISDAY visited the boisterous international border town to monitor the exercise which commenced December 6, 2025, it was observed that all the two fixed posts within the area witnessed massive vaccination of both Nigerien and Nigerian children.

The three-day vaccination campaign launched by the Katsina State Government through its Primary Health Care Agency in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), targeted 2.8 million children across the 34 local government areas of the state.

To ensure that the life-saving vaccine reaches every child in the state, the state government and UNICEF adopted door-to-door vaccination, fixed posts, and the use of mobile teams in hard-to-reach communities as implementation strategies.

However, during the vaccination campaign in Kongolam, baby Aminat Abdou, who was given birth at “a clinic” in Mai Moujiya community of Niger Republic, received her first dose of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) at the border community.

For Aminat’s mother, Khadijah, their two-hour foot-journey from their community to Kongolam was well worth it because she was able to vaccinate her daughter five months after birth.

“Aminat has received the polio vaccine, which she had not received for over five months, and that is a relief to me and her father who have been hunting for this opportunity. Her elder brothers had been fully vaccinated,” she said while smiling at her child.

Khadijah, a 38-year-old mother of three children, said she had seen “adults who had suffered polio” and was scared of what could happen if Aminat is not vaccinated against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

When asked why Aminat wasn’t vaccinated right after birth, Khadijah stated that the health facility lacked the vaccine at the time, and despite promising to provide it later, “they were unable to do so by the time we left”.

“We heard about the immunization from our neighbours who were in Kongolam to buy some foodstuff yesterday. I thank the Nigerian government for giving us the opportunity to vaccinate our children,” she added.

Aminat and dozens of other children from the neighbouring Niger Republic were lucky to be among the 69,228 Nigerian children targeted for vaccination in Mai’adua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Aside from the polio vaccination, health workers also administered azithromycin, albendazole, vitamin A supplementation and nutritional support for pregnant women during the exercise, which was held simultaneously across the state.