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From Mohammed Munirat Nasir, Gusau
The Saudi Arabia-based King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre has donated food items to 8,725 households of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Zamfara State.
The Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), AVM Muhammadu Muhammed (retd), disclosed this while flagging off distribution of the food items to the IDPs in Sunami, Gusau, the Zamfara capital.
The NEMA DG, who was represented by the Deputy Director of Planning, Hajia Fatima Kasim, said the donation, worth $1,147,310 million, was delivered through NEMA for the 8,725 IDPs households in Zamfara, including 3,972 in Borno and 3,971 in Yobe states, respectively.
‘Each household will receive a package weighing 59.8kg; comprising rice, beans and a condiment of tomato paste, seasoning cubes, cooking oil, salt and masa flour,’ she said.
She explained that the donation by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre was in response to need to complement the efforts of the Federal and Zamfara State Government to support the IDPs, following activities of bandits in that have resulted in large scale displacement and humanitarian crises.
‘The donors expect the items to immediately reach the beneficiaries across the state in order to give them some relief in this fasting period,’ she added.
She further explained that the food items would be distributed directly to the IDPs at their various camps and temporary places of abode by staff of NEMA and the State Emergency Management Agency.
Zamfara State Governor Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle, who was represented by the Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Faika Ahmed, thanked the Saudi Arabian Humanitarian Agency and NEMA for the gesture.
‘In Zamfara, our humanitarian crises are in two fold, armed banditry and natural disasters which have displaced hundreds and thousands of innocent people as well as destroyed many farmlands and foodstuffs,’ Ahmed said.
‘We are really grateful for this donation but we are also asking for more from the Centre, federal government, groups and individuals for us to address the challenges which fate has put on the citizens.’
