Zulum bans relief materials distribution in resettled Borno communities

• Airtel to feed 5,000 IDPs at Christmas
The Borno State Government has banned distribution of food and non-food materials in resettled communities across the state.

The ban was to build and support people’s resilience to get out of poverty with community livelihoods.

Governor Babagana Zulum, while banning the distribution, yesterday, in Maiduguri, in a letter to all humanitarian and development partners, including UNOCHA, said: “To this end, the State Government has committed to closing all official Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri by December, 2021.”

He said the initiative was to empower the people to build and restore livelihoods in the resettled communities.

According to him, the resettled communities include Ajiri, Auno, Mafa, Ngoshe, Marte, Mairari, Kauwuri, Pulka, Baga and Doron Baga on the shores of Lake Chad.

The governor warned that relief materials distribution would only be allowed in official IDP camps and host-communities for now,

MEANWHILE, a telecommunications firm, Airtel Nigeria, has announced plans to feed 5,000 Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) across five different camps under its yearly Christmas programme, “Airtel 5 Days of Love.”

The initiative to distribute 1,000 palliative packs to five select IDP camps in five states across the country over a period of five days will kick off on Monday, December 13, 2021 in Ugha IDP Camp, Benue State. Next stop will be in Kasaisa IDP camp in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Tuesday, December 14 and on Wednesday, December 15, will move to the IDP camp in Ekiti State. On Thursday, December 16, the programme will hold in Anka, Zamfara State. The distribution will be concluded at the IDP Camp in Ekende, Ogoja, Cross River State, on Friday, December 17, 2021.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Surendran Chemmenkotil, who stated this during a virtual press conference, yesterday, noted that the 2021 edition of “Airtel 5 Days of Love” was symbolic as it coincides with the company’s 20th anniversary in Nigeria, which he described as a landmark achievement and glowing testimony to Airtel’s commitment to the government and people of Nigeria.

The Airtel CEO added that 2021 had been an interesting year and as the year winds down, it would be good for well-meaning individuals and corporate organisations to express love and appreciation to their stakeholders, especially the less privileged.