Winifred Bosa.

The Presidential Committee on the North East Initiative (PCNI) on Monday donated assorted food items to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno as part of effort to assist victims of boko haram insurgency in the region.

Sen. Muhammad Ndume a member of the committee presented the items to Malam Muhammad Kanar, the Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) at a ceremony in Maiduguri.
Ndume explained that the gesture was aimed at tackling the shortage of food among the Displaced Persons.

He said that the items included 10,000 bags of rice, 7,000 bags of maize,7,000 bags of millet and 5,000 bags of beans among others.
Ndume said that the items were part of food items purchased by the committee at the cost of N600 million for distribution to insurgency victims in the North East.

“We inherited about N1 billion balance when we took over from the Presidential Initiatives For the North East and we committed N600 million for the purchase of food items for immediate distribution to the people to tackle food problems in the states.

“We are doing this because our people have not been able to go to farm for the last few years and the problem of hunger is imminent without intervention,” he said.

Ndume said that the food items would also be distributed to other states in the North East which were equally affected by the insurgency.

He said although the amount of the items was not much compared to the high demand for food in the area, the committee felt it was better to intervene no matter how small.

Receiving the items, Kanar thanked the committee for the gesture and promised that the items would be distributed to those affected.