A humanitarian arm of the Catholic Diocese of Minna under the auspices of Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) has donated relief items and funds worth over eleven million naira (N11,000,000) to over three hundred households and victims of the banditry and insecurity attacks in Paikoro and Shiroro local government areas of Niger state.
While presenting the items, the State Coordinator, Rev. Fr. Bahago Dauda Musa said the beneficiaries are to get thirty nine thousand, five hundred thousand naira (N39,500) each.
Rev. Fr. Musa told journalists at the closing ceremony of the distribution of items to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Adunnu and Gwada communities of Paikoro and Shiroro LGAs respectively that, although the project has ended, but assured there would be some reprieve with a trauma healing support and empowerment.
According to him “we choose two hundred households from Adunnu and one hundred from Gwada. The break down is N24,000 for food items and N15,500 for them to get Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) toiletries.”
Furthermore, he called for support from well meaning Nigerians and stakeholders so as to continually put smiles on the faces of the people, saying the program was funded by Catholic Relief Services.
Also, the Programme Manager, Hon. Emmanuel Loyin urged the beneficiaries to judiciously utilize the funds, saying “even though the funds can not solve your immediate needs, please manage it for the period pending when more support can come”.
Director, Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mohammed Usman while commending the JDPC for their gesture, disclosed that the government is presently working towards distributing food items to various camps in the forthcoming festive period.
Two of the women, Asabe Dauda and Teni Hassan while expressing their appreciation, said they are happy with the gesture adding that “we want more help because most of our people are sick and the little money we have are used to get drugs.
In their separate responses, Tanko Bazakuri from Erena and Joshua Bako said their being in the camps are as a result of banditry attacks, saying “before we can feed, we have to go out to do menial jobs; we are still in this camp because we can not rent houses.”
They however appealed to governments at all levels, organizations and well meaning Nigerians to come to their aid to see that they overcome their traumatic situations.