Islamist Rebels Slow Gates-Backed Bid to End Nigeria’s Polio

Intensifying attacks by Islamist rebels are undermining a drive backed by donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to eradicate polio in Nigeria, one of three countries where the disease remains endemic.

Gunmen abducted three health workers carrying out vaccinations in Bauchi state in March and killed nine others in attacks on polio immunization centers in the northern city of Kano last year. Police suspect the assailants were members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram, whose abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls on April 14 sparked global outrage.