The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Thursday distributed both food and non food items as emergency response to 4,000 victims of the recent flood disaster in Jalingo.
The director general of the agency, Alhaji Habib Mustapha, while distributing the items to victims of the disaster in Jalingo, said the gesture was to cushion the effect of the disaster on victims at the moment.
Mustapha, who was represented by Mr Alli Kadiri, head of Relief and Rehabilitation, NEMA Field Operation Office, Yola, said the main relief would be provided to victims after an assessment of the disaster was conducted.
He said the agency in response to the directive from the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajia Sadiya Farouk, was able to provide 21 relief items of both food and non food items.
He listed some of the items to include; mattresses, mats, blankets, beans, rice and beverages among many other items.
He appealed to the beneficiaries not to view the gesture as compensation but as an emergency response to ameliorate their immediate suffering.
Mohammed also appealed to residents of Jalingo not to build houses along water ways.
He stated that the agency had already sensitised the public with the report from NiMET to desist from habitating along water banks.
“President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to respond quickly to the flood that hit Jalingo in recent time, and caused wanton destruction of homes and farms, displacing many households in Jalingo.
“It is in line with the above directive that the NEMA is carrying out a comprehensive assessment of the disaster, and will forward the report immediately for onward response from the federal government.
“We were also directed by the ministry to come along with some relief items as part of an emergency response which will cushion the effect of the disaster on the victims before the main thing will come.
“We are therefore appealing to the beneficiaries not to take the gesture as a compensation but for them to ensure judicious use of the items pending when the federal government will act on the assessment report,’ Mohammed said.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr David Saidu, thanked the federal government for its quick response to the flood disaster.
He added that the quick response by the government has given them a hope as well as a sense of belonging that they are citizens of a country.
He stated that these items will go a long way in reducing the hardship caused by this flood.
He appealed to the government to assist victims of the disaster with building materials or funds that would enable some of them to rebuild their homes.
