The Federal Government has handed over 5,400 bags of 50kg rice and other relief items to Anambra, Sokoto and Nasarawa states to cushion the effect of the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The items were loaded into nine trucks from the Seme border warehouse of the Nigerian Customs Service for onward delivery to people of the four states, yesterday.
Lagos State Coordinator, National Social Safety Net Project, Mrs. Kemi Adedeji, who presented the items to officials of the states on behalf of Hajiyah Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said the gesture was in fulfilment of Federal Government’s promise to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on citizens.
She said the palliatives, which also included 98 jerrycans of vegetable oil, would be distributed to indigent people in the states.
Adedeji urged officials of the state governments to ensure that the relief materials get to those it was intended for.
Acting Customs Area Comptroller in Seme, Dalha Wada, said the Comptroller General of Customs, retired Col. Hammed Ali, had released the items as palliatives to states in compliance with Federal Government directive.
He said the items had been examined and certified as good for human consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Receiving the items on behalf of Anambra Government, the State Liaison Officer in Lagos, Mrs. Uloma Wise, thanked the Federal Government for the assistance. Wise promised that the relief materials would be distributed among the needy in the state.
In a related development, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development said it has dispatched 110 trucks of foodstuff to the Kano State government for distribution to the needy and vulnerable households as COVID-19 palliative.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, said the ministry delivered 10 trailer-loads of parboiled rice to the state government about two weeks ago, and in addition to that directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to deliver 100 trucks of grains to five locations in Kano State for distribution to poor and vulnerable households on the instruction of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Salisu Na’inna Dambatta who signed the statement for the minister said the grains comprised millet, sorghum and maize, which were released from silos holding the country’s strategic food reserves.
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to release 70,000 metric tonnes of food for distribution to less-privileged Nigerians to cushion the effect of the lockdown aimed at checking the spread of the COVID-19.