See where Police arrest Suspects for Diverting Mosquito Nets.

In Gombe State, seven employees of the Kwami and Billiri Local Government Primary Healthcare Departments are currently under investigation for diverting 5,450 insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) intended for free distribution in respective villages.

According to the Nigerian News Agency (NAN), the state government is sponsoring free distribution of mosquito nets with the help of the Global Fund, Catholic Relief Services, and the National Malaria Elimination Programme.

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The individuals were detained on September 10, according to Dr Habu Dahiru, the Commissioner for Health in Gombe State, who spoke at a press conference in Gombe on Saturday.

The ITNs, according to Dahiru, were designed to minimize the state’s malaria load, particularly among the most vulnerable groups – mothers and children.

He lamented that the nets were “unpatriotically and criminally diverted for personal aggrandisement by these persons’’.

He said: “the arrest of the suspects was made possible by personnel charged with the responsibility of keeping an eye on the process to ensure that the nets do not slip into wrong hands.

“They were tipped by an informant that the nets were loaded in a truck in one of the markets in Gombe with the intent of diverting them.

“Following this development, the police were alerted immediately and the vehicle conveying the nets were impounded.

“Marketers who were to take delivery of the nets were arrested and their co-conspirators were identified as well.’’Dahiru said that a total of 100 bales of the nets were recovered from Kwami while, nine bales were recovered from Billiri, adding that the nets would be distributed to the targeted persons in the two local government areas. There are 50 nets in each bale.

The commissioner urged against selling the nets, emphasizing that “these nets are for the needy and must reach them for free.” They should not be paid for by anyone.”

Dahiru thanked the police, the Department of State Security, members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and members of the public for their contributions to the arrest and recovery.