Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has distributed relief materials to internally-displaced persons (IDPs), schools with special needs and rehabilitation centers in the state.
Performing the monthly distribution of relief materials on Monday in Makurdi, the agency’s acting Executive Secretary, Sir James Iorpuu, said that the state now has 17 official IDP camps.
According to Iorpuu, the state has three additional camps in Ukum Local Government Area, following the ongoing banditry activities and herders’ attacks in the area.
He said that SEMA was distributing relief materials to 17 camps, schools with special needs at Aliade and Vandiekya as well as the rehabilitation centre at Apir.
The executive secretary listed the items distributed as: 4,200 25kg bags of rice, 2,810 25kg bags of beans, 2,870 bags of garri, 4,155 cartons of noodles, 324 gallons of groundnut oil and 191 gallons of red oil.
Others, he said, included 423 cartons of maggi, 363 bags of salt and 266 bags of sugar.
Iorpuu said that National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had also sent 600 pieces of wrappers, 300 pieces men’s wears, 150 pieces of mattresses, 300 pieces children’s wears, 200 cooking pots and 200 blankets for distribution.
He said that NEMA equally sent a truck of cement and planks for the construction of toilets across the camps.
The executive secretary said that the distribution and transportation of all the relief materials would be carried out during the day time for security reason.
He said the humanitarian crisis in the state had gotten to the international community, following the visit of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, to the IDPs in Benue.
