The Kaduna State Government has asked parents to allow their children below the ages of five to be immunised against Polio or face prosecution.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the state government in a statement by the Special Assistant to Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, said on Thursday in Kaduna that the immunisation was compulsory.

The statement read in part, “The government wishes to clarify that any parent found obstructing health workers from carrying out their statutory functions will be prosecuted according to the law.’’

It also urged parents to support the programme, saying a “polio-free state is a mission that all parents must support for the sake of all children in the state”.

“The campaign reflects the government’s determination to ensure that no child is exposed to the hazards of a disease that can be prevented, and which has been eradicated in most parts of the world,” it added.

The statement quoted the state’s Task force on Polio Eradication Initiative and Routine Immunisation, which is headed by the governor, as saying, “Children must be protected from the severe consequences of non-immunisation.

“The polio task force believes that most parents would easily appreciate the need to vaccinate their children.

“However, the public interest to protect children against avoidable health threats has led to a decision to make polio vaccination compulsory.

“The state cannot tolerate a situation where the laxity or levity of some parents may expose children to a bleak future.

“Parents and government must cooperate in guaranteeing good health for children in Kaduna state.’’

The government also directed that all eligible children in transit within Kaduna State should be made available for immunisation at all transit sites during the period of the campaign to eradicate polio.

It said that teams of vaccinators had been deployed to work with FRSC and NDLEA officials at partial roadblocks to vaccinate children in transit through highways in the State.