By Bisola Adeyemo
Not less than 30,000 relief materials like rice, beans, vegetable oil, and mosquito nets were distributed to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 16 local government areas in Taraba state on Monday by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Director-General of NEMA, AVM Muhammadu Muhammad (retired) made this known at the official flag-off of the distribution of the items to the beneficiaries in the 16 local government areas, held in Jalingo.
Muhammad, who was represented by Mr Maidalla Iliya, NEMA Head of Operations, Adamawa/Taraba Operations Office, said that the items comprised of both food and non-food materials.
The DG explained that the gesture was in line with the agenda of Hajiya Sa’adiya Farouk, the Minister of Humanitarian, Disaster Management and Social Development, on bringing succor to the internally displaced persons in the country.
He, however, said that the items which include Rice (12.5kg), beans (25kg), vegetable oil, beverages, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets among many others were to be distributed to all the 16 local government areas of the state.
Muhammad also said that the approval was granted based on the assessment carried out earlier by a disaster assessment team in the agency which visited all the crisis-affected areas in the state.
He advised the beneficiaries not to feel that they were compensated by the government, but those items were provided just to relieve them and sustain them for a moment.
Muhammad therefore, gave assurance that the materials would get to the genuine people they were meant for, adding that the agency had developed a mechanism for ensuring efficient delivery of items to the targeted people.
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“Our staff has been deployed to all the IDPs camps in the state to ensure efficient delivery of relief items to the targeted people,’ he said.
Earlier, Mr Taninga Binga, Taraba State Commissioner for Special Duties and Humanitarian Affairs commended the Federal government for the assistance.
Represented by Mr Samson Tijos, Secretary in the ministry, Binga expressed satisfaction with the quality and quantity of the materials provided by NEMA.
He also thanked the federal government for considering the request made by Gov. Darius Ishaku of Taraba concerning the plight of the IDPs in the state.
In his address, Alhaji Abdulnaseer Bobboji, Chairman, Jalingo Local Government Area, appealed to the Federal government to assist the IDPs with building materials as many wanted to return to their homes but were faced with the challenge of shelter.
Bobboji also appealed to NEMA and SEMA to consider the provision of more relief items to the Jalingo community which accommodated many IDPs from various local governments of the state.
He thanked Gov. Darius Ishaku for taking up the complaints of victims of communal crisis to the federal government, as well as the federal government for granting succor to the IDPs, adding that more still needed to be done more.
The chairman urged the beneficiaries not to discriminate against nonindigenes in the IDPs camps in the course of sharing the relief materials, saying that Jalingo as a state capital has accommodated IDPs from various places.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria, said that the materials would go a long way in cushioning the hardship associated with IDPs.
Mrs Dorathy Garba, another beneficiary, thanked the federal government for the gesture.
