By: Sainabou Sambou
Forty-five Nigerian soldiers from the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) and 30 officers of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency (DLEA) joined hospital staff on Saturday in a sanitation exercise at Kanifing General Hospital, clearing overgrown vegetation and improving hygiene across the premises.
The operation formed part of ECOMIG’s civil-military cooperation program. Lieutenant Colonel Yahaya Mohammed Abdullahi, commander of the Nigerian contingent, said the initiative grew from a recent hospital visit during which management raised concerns about the bushy grounds.
“I asked them what I could do for them. They said the place was somewhat bushy,” Abdullahi recalled. He promised to return with his men. ECOMIG personnel are occasionally referred to the hospital for treatment and receive the same care as Gambian security officers, he added. The cleanup, he said, was both practical support and a gesture of reciprocity for that hospitality.
Abdullahi described environmental sanitation as one strand of a wider outreach that already includes gifts of rice, school bags and writing materials to widows and children of fallen soldiers. He said the contingent was ready to assist in education and healthcare when opportunities arose. This was the first such sanitation exercise at Kanifing. Still, he pledged continued help and indicated similar work could be offered at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital and facilities in the Brikama area, where ECOMIG medical staff already operate. The mission’s own hospital at Yundum, he noted, remains open to Gambian civilians and members of The Gambia Armed Forces.
Hospital public relations officer Omar Jammeh said the collaboration rests on a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Defense. Serving soldiers and their immediate families may use government health facilities without charge if they present a valid warrant card. The arrangement, which predates the current government, also covers emergency blood donation when hospitals face shortages. Families sometimes turn to military barracks when they cannot find donors, Jammeh said.
He described the Nigerian cleanup as the first of its kind by that contingent, though other ECOMIG units have previously repaired roads, built mosques and supported community health. Nigerian officers had expressed interest in making such visits regular so the hospital could serve as a standing point for security forces to meet identified needs.
Administrator Baboucarr Saine called the exercise a routine rainy-season measure to keep the grounds safe for patients, staff and visitors. He welcomed the prompt response from both the Nigerian contingent and DLEA and stressed that a clean environment reduces infection risk. Saine said he expected the Police Intervention Unit, The Gambia Armed Forces and groups such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth to take part in similar work before the rains end.
DLEA officer Ousainou Fally Sonko called the joint effort a “noble gesture” essential to public health. He said his agency would support comparable community projects and urged young people to shun illicit drugs, adding that the fight against abuse required cooperation among security agencies, institutions and the public.
Hospital officials described the day as a practical demonstration of the long-standing partnership between health services and the security sector.
