The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Thursday commenced the distribution of another set of relief materials to victims of the 2022 floods in Akwa Ibom.
The South-South Coordinator of NEMA, Mr Godwin Tepiko, said the gesture was intended to ameliorate the plight of the victims.
Tepiko was represented at the brief ceremony in Uyo by the Director General of the agency, Mr Mustapha Ahmed.
He said that the items were donated by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
He listed the items to include food items, building materials and livelihoods items, such as grinding machines, mattresses and farm implements.
He said that no single government would be able to meet the needs of the victims, hence the intervention by the ministry.
Tepikohe said that already enumeration of the victims had been carried out in the 31 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
He appealed to the respective council chairmen to ensure that the materials got to the targetted victims “to give them succour”.
He said: “Our counsel is that those that will eventually benefit from these items should make maximum use of them.
“The idea is that the items will help to enhance their early recovery from that incident,” he said.
In a remark, Dep. Gov. Akon Eyakenyi said that the State Government was highly elated that the partnership with Federal Government had attracted succour to the victims of the disaster.
Eyakenyi said the 2022 flood “wrecked havoc of monumental proportion” in several communities in the state, especially those in the coastal areas.
“Given the enormity of the disaster, and in spite of the remedial measures taken by the State Government through the State Emergency Management Agency, the need to involve the Federal Government became both imminent and imperative.
“The Government and people of Akwa Ibom, therefore, commend the Federal Government’s efforts in identifying with our government and vulnerable section of our communities in our time of distress and dire need,” Eyakenyi said.
He urged the LGA chairmen to ensure that the items were distributed directly to the victims to reduce their sufferings and restore hope to them.
Responding on behalf of the benefiting LGAs, the Chairman of Ikot Ekpene LGA, Mr Unyime Etim, thanked the Federal and State Governments, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and NEMA for responding to the needs of the flood victims.
Etim promised that the materials would get to all the affected persons and that they would be utilised judiciously. (NAN)(
