The Victims Support Fund (VSF) Taskforce on COVID-19, in partnership with a Kaduna-based NGO, Carelink Resource Foundation (CRF) has distributed food items to 50 households of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kaduna.
The Chief Executive Officer, CRF, Mr Silas Ideva, handed over the food items and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the IDPs at Unguwan Zawu IDP camp, Goni Gora, Kaduna, on Thursday.
Ideva explained that the items were donated by VSF under its COVID-19 Emergency Support Programme.
He said the items for each of the households included 10 kilogrammes (kg) of rice, beans, maize, two packs of 500 grammes salt and four litres can of vegetable oil.
He also said that the PPEs consisted of packs of facemask and hand sanitiser for each household.
He said that so far, no fewer than 468 vulnerable households in 10 communities of Chikun Local Government Area of the state had received the items provided by VSF taskforce on COVID-19.
The communities included Kyanan Gari, Babban Saura, Dan Bushia, Narayi, Janruwa, Unguwan Bulus, Bagado, Television, Unguwan Matari, and Unguwan Zawu IDP camp.
He said the beneficiaries included widows and orphans’ households, low-income households and households of people living with disabilities.
Receiving the items, the Village Head of Uguwan Bije, Goni Gora, Mr Sabo Waya, thanked the donors for the support, saying it would significantly reduce the sufferings of the IDPs.
Similarly, the Camp Chairman, Mr Habila Madaki, appreciated VSF and CRF for the support, describing it as “very uplifting”.
Madaki said the camp, a block of two classrooms at the proposed Zawu Community Secondary School, was established in January 2020.
He said that women and children constituted about 400 out of the 628 IDPs from 108 households at the camp.
“We don’t have access to clean water, and we defecate openly due to lack of toilet and other sanitation facilities.
“We are appealing to the state government to improve the security situation in the state so that we will all go back to our houses,” he said.
One of the IDPs, Mrs Kiskilla Nuhu, a mother of four, said that their children were starving and were predisposed to diseases due to the poor condition of the camp.
“Government should please do something to address the security situation so we will return to our homes and fend for ourselves,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the VSF had on Dec. 1, donated food items and PPEs valued N130 million to the Kaduna State Government and selected Civil Society Organisations in the state for distribution to vulnerable households. (NAN)
