FG Steps up Food, Shelter Supplies to IDPs in North East

 

The Office of the Vice-President has said that over 23,000 bags of assorted food items and 2,155 bags of shelter supplies have been provided by different federal government agencies to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North-east.

The vice-president’s media aide, Mr Laolu Akande, in a statement yesterday said the supplies were part of ongoing initiatives aimed at ameliorating the plight of the IDPs in areas ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He explained that under the coordinated federal intervention programme, both the Presidential Initiative on North East (PINE) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were leading the humanitarian aid with the distribution of 10,300 bags of assorted grains and cereals towards the feeding of over two million persons scattered across the region.

According to him, a federal intervention report had shown the level of supplies in the month of July. The report was compiled by the presidential aide for the North-east, Dr. Tope Masha.

Akande said PINE supplied over 10,300 bags of food items such as rice, millet, maize, guinea corn, salt, vegetable oil, beans and noodles to Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe and Bauchi States.

Besides, NEMA also supplied Borno State with 13,200 bags of food items.

The report indicated that PINE, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, distributed 2,155 assorted shelter materials in nine different local government areas of Borno State, namely: Bama, Damboa, Bakacy, Dikwa, Monguno, Mafa, Jere, Banki and Gwoza.

The federal government, according to the report, responded swiftly to the reported case of malnutrition in Bama camp, adding that severely malnourished children and adults were moved from Bama to Maiduguri for comprehensive medical treatment.

Government has also deployed medical teams from the Federal Ministry of Health and the Nigerian Air Force to assist in support missions for nutrition emergency response to those in need.

In addition, the government of Borno State is converting the Islamiya School in Bama to a hospital which will be equipped by the Nigeria Air Force for the quick comprehensive treatment of victims.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in consolidating the federal government’s intervention in the North-east, ordered the establishment of the Presidential Committee on North-east Interventions (PCNI).

The committee chaired by Gen. Theophilus Danjuma is responsible for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery of the North-east.

Equally, the statement said the federal government had constituted an Inter-ministerial Technical Working Group to facilitate effective humanitarian assistance.

The group has been mandated to expedite waivers and technical assistance by donors providing humanitarian aid in the North-east.

Members of the group include the Office of the Vice-President, Office of the National Security Adviser, NEMA, Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Budget & National Planning, Finance, Nigeria Customs and Immigration.

It said the federal government would continue to assess the needs and develop effective ways of addressing them with the active collaboration of local, national and international agencies, including the United Nations system.

“The Buhari presidency will neither relent nor leave any stone unturned in ensuring that our people in the North-east are provided with the assistance and support needed to address the different fallouts and impact of the insurgency that have ravaged the region for years,” the vice-president’s office stated.