The Federal Government has commenced the immediate deployment of food and non-food relief materials to communities and survivors affected by the Christmas Eve attacks by marauding gunmen in Plateau state.
Nigeria’s Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in a press release on January 3 by her Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair stated this while speaking with newsmen in Jos, the Plateau state capital.
The Minister who visited affected communities for an on-the-spot assessment of the affected areas with her counterpart from the Ministry of Defence and Service Chiefs was on the ground to coordinate Humanitarian Responses
Edu also visited churches and some Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps where she observed a minute silence for the dead and addressed worshippers and victims who were taking refuge for protection after the attacks.
She assured them of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to bring lasting solutions in terms of security and resettlement of people resident in the state.
She said the humanitarian response would be made available almost immediately in line with the presidential directive, stating that durable solutions would be provided while we rebuild to help them return to their ancestral homes.
The Minister also said her ministry will partner with the Nigerian Military and the Plateau State Government for onward distribution of the relief materials items.
Her words: “The President has asked us to come to Plateau state to see what was on the ground; he has also directed the immediate deployment of relief materials including food items like Rice, Grains, vegetable oil, and non-food items like mattresses, clothes, blankets among others, as well as other personal effects they will need while we plan for more durable solutions to their needs to enable them to go back to their ancestral homes”.
Recall that about 107 persons were massacred in about 15 communities in Barkin Ladi, Mangu, and Bokkos Local Government Areas of Plateau state by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in coordinated attacks on Christmas Eve.
The gunmen also set not fewer than 100 houses ablaze during the horrendous attacks, a development that welcomed condemnation across the globe.
The Minister of State Defense, Muhammed Bello Matawalle, during the visit in the company of the three service chiefs, including the Airforce, Army, and Navy, assured the people and Government of Plateau of protection.
Governor Caleb Mutfwang, who received the two ministers and the service chief, had earlier briefed them in a closed-door meeting on the situation on the ground.
