The Chairman of the Victims Support Fund (VSF), General Theophilus Yakub Danjuma (Retd), has inaugurated the VSF taskforce on COVID-19 with the mandate to provide palliative measures to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups across the country.
The taskforce has Ms. Toyosi-Akerele Ogunsuji as its chairperson, while Dr. Bulama Mali Gubio, Ambassador John Gana; Mr. Sunday Oibe; Mr. Alkasim Abdulkadir; and Professor Sunday Ochoche are members respectively.
The VSF’s spokesperson, Ms. Rotkatmwa Gokum, in a statement made to Blueprint in Abuja on Wednesday, quoted Danjuma as saying that the gesture was part of the organisation’s contribution to national efforts to fight COVID-19.
Danjuma said the taskforce will provide N1bn worth of medical supplies, food, water and non-food items for IDPs and others who will face special challenges at the difficult time occasioned by CONVID-19.
He said: “The taskforce shall also work closely with all federal and state government organs and agencies tasked with the responsibility of providing direction and leadership in the fight against COVID-19, including the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and all relevant MDAs.
“The taskforce will also extend support to other frontline organizations working to curtail the spread of the novel Coronavirus’’.
Danjuma said the VSF’s intervention became necessary in view of the global devastation of the Coronavirus pandemic and the huge human challenges it poses to the country.
“As a country, we must all do what we can to ensure that the spread is curtailed. The committee is expected to embark on massive sensitization campaigns amongst vulnerable groups to inform and educate them on the best hygiene and sanitation practices in order to prevent the further spread of the disease,’’ he said.
