Prof. Nana Tanko, Executive Director of VSF, said this during the distribution of the items at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Gwada, Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
“VSF is distributing food items to 7,057 households who are victims of terrorism in Niger. A total of 49,399 individuals from 7,057 will be benefitting from this intervention.
”The intervention is expected to meet their nutritional needs for four weeks,” she said.
Tanko explained that the beneficiaries of the intervention were selected from the most vulnerable households in conflict-affected communities of Shiroro, Rafi, Munya and Kotangora LGAs of the state.
She said the groups are in dire need of food assistance.
“This intervention provided the following; 15 kilograms of maize flour, 15 kilograms of millet, five kilograms of beans, two kilograms of salt, three sachets of 0.75 litres of vegetable oil and 15 sachets of tomato paste.
”Other are: 15 sachets of pepper and onion paste and two packs of seasoning cubes to each of the benefiting households,” she said.
The executive director said that the fund collaborated with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) and the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations in the state to effectively distribute the items to the beneficiaries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that VSF had earlier provided agricultural inputs to 700 farmers in affected communities in the state.
NAN also reports that the fund also donated foodstuffs, medical consumables and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to 5,272 households during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Reacting, Gov. Abubakar Bello of Niger appreciated the fund for the gesture, adding that it would go a long way in meeting the nutritional needs of the IDPs.
Bello who was represented by Alhaji Ahmed Ketso, Deputy Governor of the state appealed to government and Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to collaborate in order to assist the IDPs.
He said that government was doing everything possible to tackle insecurity and other forms of criminality in the state.
“Government will continue to do its best to tackle security challenges in the state,” he said
.Also, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed, one of the IDPs, who thanked the fund for the support said that it was not an easy task to live outside their ancestral homes. (NAN)
