Benue govt. distributes relief materials to IDPs

The Benue State Government on Wednesday in Makurdi distributed food and non food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the State.

Mr  James Iorpuu, Acting Executive Secretary, Benue Emergency Management Agency (SEMA),  while presenting the items to the IDPs, said that the government was determined to improve their welfare.

Iorpuu said that the exercise underscored Gov. Hyacinth Alia’s unwavering commitment to alleviating the suffering of the displaced persons currently in IDP camps across state.

He said that the government was focused on providing solutions to the problems facing the IDPs through durable and sustainable solutions.

Iorpuu said that relief materials would be distributed to all the 14 camps, orphanages, Schools for people with Special needs and IDPs not in the designated camps.

He said the items distributed included 2,400 bags of rice, 729 bags of beans, 160 bags of garri and 1,520 cartons of indomine.

Others are 175 gallons of groundnut oil, 157 gallons of red oil and 905 cartons of maggi among others.

He said  that the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), had deployed seven of their critical sectors in the state for humanitarian assistance.

According to him, the sectors are in shelter, non-food items, camp management and coordination, protection, and in Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).

“Their efforts in camp coordination and camp management, shelter and non-food items, livelihood, water and sanitation, and transitional recovery have been instrumental in ensuring that our IDPs receive the necessary assistance and support.”

Speaking on his one year in office, Iorpuu said he had increased the staff strength of the agency from 43 to 219, renovated and furnished the SEMA headquarters.

The SEMA boss said that he had attracted international donor agencies especially the UN agencies to the state to support the humanitarian crisis.

He said that the agency was already building a multipurpose conference hall that would house most of the donor agencies offices, and coordinate all humanitarian affairs in the state.

He said the IOM was already collating data of all the IDPs in the state for effective support.

Iorpuu appealed to residents residing at flood prone areas to start making arrangement of relocating, following Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) prediction of heavy flooding in the state this year. (NAN)