Nigerian chief in trouble over polio vaccine divorce

The chief of a village in northern Nigeria has been suspended from office for divorcing his wife because she had her children immunised against polio.

Buluma Ali has been ordered to re-unite with his wife or face "dethronement".

The head of Maisandari district said a traditional ruler was supposed to educate subjects on the importance of getting children immunised.



In 2003, some Nigerian Islamic leaders said the immunisations were part of a Western plot to make Muslims infertile.

They brought a halt to the vaccination campaign in the north of the country for a year, during which the number of new cases exploded.

"[Mr Ali] still believes that polio vaccine can render children infertile," Borno State spokesman Usman Ciroma said.