The Federal Government has begun deployment of food and non-food relief materials to communities and victims of the Christmas Eve attacks by marauding gunmen in Plateau State.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, is already in the state to coordinate humanitarian responses and has since visited affected communities for an on-the-spot assessment in the affected area with her counterpart from the Ministry of Defence as well as service chiefs.
The special adviser on media and publicity to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Rasheed Olanrewaju Zubair, said in a statement Wednesday morning that Edu also visited churches and some Internally Displaced persons (IDP) camps, where she addressed worshippers and victims seeking refuge.
She assured them of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to bringing lasting solutions in terms of response security and the resettlement of people resident in the state. She said humanitarian relief 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 the onward distribution of the relief materials.
She said: “The President has asked us to come to Plateau State to see what is on 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, and blankets, among others, as well as other personal things 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 people 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 no fewer than 100 houses ablaze during the horrendous attacks, a development that welcomed condemnation across the globe.
The Minister of State for Defense, Muhammed Bello Matawalle, during the visit in the company of the three service chiefs, including the Air Force, Army, and Navy, assured the people and the government of Plateau State 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.