The ECOWAS Commission has donated food items worth millions of Naira to displaced families in Borno State.
The kind gesture extended to the displaces people on Saturday was towards the mitigation of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the humanitarian situation in the state.
Handing over the items on behalf of the Commission in Maiduguri, Alhaji Grema Ali, the Director, Humanitarian Affairs, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said that the gesture would help the most vulnerable households cope with the multiple crises while safeguarding their livelihoods.
Ali said that the donations included 3,000 bags of cereals, adding, “at least five trucks of such items were distributed in Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Kogi Katsina and Zamfara states by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs on behalf of ECOWAS,” he said.
Receiving the items, Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, the Chairperson of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), said that the grains would be on their way to Damasak, for distribution to refugees that recently returned from Niger Republic.
“His Excellency, Gov. Babagana Zulum, has given us a directive that the grains should immediately be moved to Damasak, because the population there is in dire need. And we have complied accordingly. The governor has also approved that additional food grains be added for them,” Kolo said.
She called on donors and public-spirited individuals to complement the efforts of the government by providing food support to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.
“It is not our wish that this should drag this long, but here we are dealing with an insurgency that is dragging to its twelfth year.
“We all are praying for a quick end to this so that we can all go back to our normal lives of farming and animal breeding.
“Before now, our people are known for the cultivation of all kinds of grains and wheat as well as rice. We still hope that one day, we would go back to those days of peace,” said Kolo.
