Kano Province is the only Province out of 36 that is still refusing the vaccine.
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Police Ban Demonstration to Support Kano's Rejection of Polio Vaccines
Vanguard (Lagos)
April 1, 2004
Posted to the web April 1, 2004
Kano
Nigeria Police in Kano, yesterday banned a demonstration to support the state government's rejection of the UN-administered polio vaccine for their children. More than 100 anti-riot police stormed the venue of the demonstration, organised by 32 Kano-based non-governmental organisations under the auspices of Kano Peoples Forum (KPF). The rally was intended to express support to the state government's rejection of the oral polio vaccine promoted by UN health agencies despite the country's federal government certification of the vaccine as safe. "We planned to hold a procession from the Emir's palace to the government house to thank the Emir and governor on the decision they took over the polio vaccine," KPF president Yahaya Imam said.
"Unfortunately, the police informed us that the permit given to us had been withdrawn on security grounds," he said. "We believe the federal government ordered the ban and considering its stand on the polio controversy, the federal government is rattled by the prospects of the large turnout and the impact the protests will have not only in Kano but across northern Nigeria," he added.
The police said they took the decision to prevent violence in the aftermath of last Saturay's local government polls in the country.
"The demonstration was planned just four days after council elections and we can't risk allowing it to go ahead because it could be hijacked by aggrieved politicians to cause violence," state police spokesman Mohammed Baba said. "As security operatives, we have no interest in the polio issue, our duty is to maintain law and order. We feel the demonstration is ill-timed," he added. Kano, at the heart of the world's fastest growing outbreak of the crippling disease, rejected the vaccine after Muslim clerics and leaders alleged the drugs were laced with anti-fertility agents and the HIV/AIDS virus in order to depopulate Africa.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200404010653.html