From: Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

Acting President Yemi Osibanjo will, on Thursday, flag-off the distribution of 30,000 metric tonnes (1,032 trucks) of cereal to affected victims of insurgency in three northeast states.

The exercise is the first humanitarian support to the three northeast states affected by deadly Boko Haram crisis since the inauguration of the Muhammadu Buhari government.

A statement by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and signed by its spokesman, Sani Datti, said the distribution was a special intervention to address the food crisis in the region and for the survival of the victims of the violence.

“This special relief intervention has the objective of highlighting the strategies that would be adopted for distribution of relief materials approved by the federal government for displaced persons in the North East in accordance with the humanitarian principles,” it said.

It said the distribution will be based on dry ration calculations of six persons per household and “food ration per individual for 30days at 280grams x30/1000k = 8.4 kg times individual requirement per household, is 50.4 kg.”

The agency said the distribution would also serves as litmus test for “full cycle of intervention adapting world best practices” even as it consider local peculiarities.

“Each household beneficiary would be issued with a voucher, which is redeemed at the receipt of the household allocation of the food basket. It also involves taking the materials to the doorsteps of the affected persons.

NEMA said the relief intervention would equally be airlifted by the Nigerian Air Force to hard-to-reach areas either as a result of inaccessible roads or security threat.