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The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) opened a new terminal for the Humanitarian Air Service in Maiduguri to enhance the delivery of aid to people affected by the insurgency who live in communities difficult to reach by road transportation.
The WFP Head of Area Office, Northeast, Emmanuel Bigenimana, in his welcome address at the opening ceremony of the newly-built UN Humanitarian Air Services (HAS) Terminal at the Muhammadu Buhari International Airport, Maiduguri, yesterday described the facility as an important investment in aviation infrastructure.
He disclosed that air services were an integral part of the humanitarian response. He said the facility would enable the delivery of assistance to locations that were inaccessible to aid organisations and cargo by road.
“The World Food Programme operates the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service, providing reliable air transport for UN agencies, NGOs and partners to reach populations quickly and safely when and where they are needed most,” he explained.
He said humanitarian flights departing from Maiduguri daily supported operations serving thousands of people affected by violence in the region.
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He commended the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for funding the project.
The UK FCDO Development Director, Cynthia Rowe, said the UNHAS had been operating from a temporary structure to deliver aid to the civilian population in hard-to-reach areas for a long time.
She said the opening of the terminal on Thursday was not just a ceremonial event but about people difficult to reach.
Governor Babagana Zulum, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the Borno State Agency for Sustainable Development, Partnerships and Humanitarian Response, Dr Babakura Gadai, lauded the WFP initiative and the UK FCDO’s support for the project.
He expressed hope the facility would be transferred to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for sustainability.
