The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated building materials and food items, worth millions of naira to 1,767 households affected by fire disaster and communal crisis in Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom
The Director- General of the agency, Mr Mustapha Ahmed, inaugurated the distribution on Thursday, in the local government area.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of the relief materials to the communities.
Ahmed stated that the gesture was part of Federal Government’s efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the victims.
Ahmed, who was represented by the Zonal Coordinator, NEMA, South-South, Mr Godwin Tepikor, said that 1,183 households in Ibaka community and 584 households in Ewang community, all in Mbo LGA, benefitted from the gesture.
Ahmed said the relief materials were distributed to households affected by the Ibaka fishing fire disaster, which occurred on May 26, 2021 and those affected by Ewang communal crisis on Feb. 24, 2021.
He appealed to the communities to live in peace with one another to forestall recurrence, stressing that , ”money spent on relief materials would have been used for development of the communities.
“Today, the Federal Government, through NEMA is presenting relief items, comprising building materials and food items to the victims.
“ The intervention is not meant to compensate for what you have lost, but to identify with you in your grieving moment.
“As we are presenting this intervention, NEMA is appealing to you to live in peace with neighbouring communities,” Ahmed, urged.
The DG conveyed the sympathy of the Federal Government to the state and indeed, those affected by both disasters.
He advised communities to eschew acts capable of causing another disaster in their domains.
In his remarks, the Akwa Ibom Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo, commended the Federal Government and NEMA for the donations and pledged that the beneficiaries would make judicious use of the items.
Ekpo, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in his office, Mr Nkopuruk Ekaiko, appealed to communities in the state to avoid communal conflicts, adding that , ”conflicts are not beneficial to anyone.”
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, the Chairman of Mbo LGA, Mr Asukwo Eyo, thanked the Federal Government and the agency for coming to the aid of his people.
Eyo promised that the items distributed to the people would be properly utilised to restart their lives.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the items distributed include; bags of rice, beans, garri, vegetable oil, and cartons of tinned tomatoes.
Other items include; bags of cement, pieces of ceiling boards, bundles of roofing sheets, bags of nails and packets of zinc among others.
Discussion about this post