By Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
No fewer than 9,403 internally displaced households in Benue State have received food and relief materials through a joint humanitarian intervention by the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The distribution, flagged off on Wednesday at the Internally Displaced Persons Mega Camp in Mbayongu, Makurdi Local Government Area, targeted displaced families across major camps in the state, as well as selected host communities and vulnerable institutions.
The Executive Secretary of Benue SEMA, Sir James Iorpuu, said the intervention comprises two separate relief packages aimed at easing the hardship faced by families displaced by conflict and violence.
According to him, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through NEMA, donated food items to 6,403 households across the Mega Camp, Abagena, Daudu II, Ortese, Ichwa and International Market camps.
He added that the Benue State Government and NEMA jointly provided household relief materials for more than 3,000 displaced households.
Iorpuu disclosed that the distribution would also extend to host communities, the refugee settlement in Kyogen, Mama Abayol Orphanage, the orphanage home in Gboko, the Benue State Rehabilitation Board, Schools for Special Needs in Vandeikya and Aliade, as well as the IDP camp in Ayilamo, Logo Local Government Area.
He said the items earmarked for distribution include 8,800 bags of rice, 1,000 bags of beans, 1,000 cartons of noodles, 105 gallons of 25-litre palm oil and groundnut oil, alongside other essential household materials.
He said, “This intervention will benefit 6,403 households across six IDP camps in Benue State. The second intervention is the distribution of over 3,000 household relief items jointly facilitated by the Benue State Government and NEMA.
“These relief materials are intended to provide much-needed support to displaced families by helping them meet their immediate household needs as they continue their journey towards recovery and self-reliance.”
The SEMA boss said the intervention reflected the commitment of the Federal Government, Benue State Government and humanitarian partners to providing timely assistance to people displaced by insecurity.
He assured beneficiaries that efforts would continue towards achieving durable solutions that would enable displaced persons to return to their communities in safety and dignity.
Iorpuu also commended the Director-General of NEMA and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for sustaining their humanitarian partnership with Benue State.
Speaking at the event, the Director-General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, said the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre had consistently supported vulnerable populations in Nigeria through relief interventions and emergency response initiatives.
Represented by the agency’s Director of Special Duties, Fatimah Kasim, Umar described the intervention as another milestone in the enduring partnership between NEMA and the Saudi humanitarian organisation.
She disclosed that the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre donated 24,302 food baskets for distribution to vulnerable persons in Benue, Yobe, Anambra, Kebbi and Taraba states.
According to her, the 6,403 profiled households in Benue are among the beneficiaries of the latest phase of the intervention, noting that similar distributions had already been conducted in Yobe, Anambra, Kebbi and Taraba states.
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