Medical services to the
West Africa Command of the
British Army were provided by the West African Army Medical Corps (WAAMC), a division of the
Army Medical Services. This continued during
World War II. The WAAMC continued to provide such services until 1956 as African nations in the region were becoming independent;
Nigeria became independent in
1960when the
Nigerian Military Medical Service (NMMS) was made an independent organisation, headquartered at
Apapa. Most of the WAAMC doctors had been foreigners, and they were gradually withdrawn from the country in the years leading up to independence. In 1960, it was renamed the Nigerian Army Medical Corps. Upon independence, the corps had a
military hospital in
Kaduna and in
Lagos, and a total of less than 100 beds. In 1964,
A. O. Peters was made the first medical commander of the corps. Unrest in the lead-up to the
Nigerian Civil War in 1966 led to the establishment of a wider Armed Forces Medical Services, which oversaw the expansion of the two hospitals and the development of several more. On 22 June 1966, H. E. Adefop was made director of army medical services. When the Nigerian Civil War broke out on 6 July 1967, the corps was expanded further, including the establishment of training facilities. The army eventually had five military hospitals. During the war, the NAMC grew and gained experience. In 1971 the first woman was commissioned into the NAMC, and by 1994 there were seven female doctors in the corps. The corps has also been involved in various peace-keeping and disaster response missions. It participated in United Nations missions in
Yugoslavia. It provided support during the
Second Liberian Civil War and the
Sierra Leone Civil War. == Present day ==