By Faith Igbudu
A Non-Governmental Organisation, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has distributed relief materials worth N14.3 million to 300 households in Oweto and Obagaji communities, Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State as part of its response to the recent flooding in the state.
Performing the flag-off on Saturday, Country Director, AAN, Ene Obi said the organisation embarked on the intervention as a way of sympathising with the flood victims as a result of the unfortunate incident.
Obi explained that the organisation was known all over the country for rendering humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters both natural and man-made.
She said that 75 households in Oweto and 225 in Obagaji were targeted for the intervention, saying that the data was collected in the benefiting communities to meet the target audience.
“We saw what happened when the flood came. It swept so many of them from their homes, they were on the main road and so we thought about doing something.
“Our intervention is normally looked at through the eyes of a woman. We look at the vulnerability of women, girls, children and persons with disabilities. For Action Aid, we know that the burden of looking after the family rests on the shoulders of women.
“We are happy to bring some relief and smiles to faces. We are hoping that this will help them. You can see the happiness on their faces because they are also collecting cash, aside from the non food items and women who are breastfeeding are given additional relief materials,” she said.
The Country Director said that the organisation was working in collaboration with Benue State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), Justice Development and Peace Commission (FJDP), the local government, as well as the church for effective distribution of the items.
She said the organisation had carried out similar interventions in Jigawa, Delta, Bayelsa, Anambra, and Kogi states and called on the various government to work together in tackling the issue of flooding in Nigeria.
“We hope that government will listen to the issue of flood. Flood is a reality. We have talked about the dredging of the River Benue and Niger, we have talked about the dam, yet nothing has been done.
“All those who consume the ecological funds need to be held accountable because ecological funds are given to each state government, are they using it? What is the state government doing for the people? Interventions like we have come to do is not enough,” she said.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary, SEMA, Dr Emmanuel Shior, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the State Governor on Emergency Management, Cyprain Tsenongo, appreciated AAN for their show of love, saying the agency was in dire need of such interventions.
He used the opportunity to call on other good spirited persons and organisations to offer various assistance to the innumerable displaced persons in the state.
On his part, Coordinator, FJDP, Rev. Fr Emmanuel Ejeh, thanked the NGO for coming to the aid of their communities, saying that the people were overwhelmed by the kind gesture done to them.
Speaking separately in an interview with The Voice, some of the beneficiaries, Useni Paul and Yusuf Rosemary expressed appreciation to AAN for the intervention.
They called on other organisations as well as spirited individuals to do same.
The Voice reports that the items distributed included household essentials, kitchen utensils, as well as N18,000 cash per beneficiary to buy food needed for the house, even as women and children were given additional wrapper, sanitary kits among other hygiene items.
AAN is a humanitarian organisation, which has carried out several interventions in Nigeria including the provision of food, non-food items and dignity kits to households displaced by disasters among others.