The European Union (EU) has donated an additional €250,000, over ₦450 million in humanitarian aid to support victims displaced by violent armed attacks in Benue and Plateau States.
The funding will enable the Nigerian Red Cross Society to deliver immediate, life-saving assistance to 2,500 vulnerable households, affecting an estimated 15,000 people who have been displaced for over four months.
Relief items to be provided include emergency cash support, essential household items, healthcare services, psychosocial care, and water and sanitation supplies. Beyond urgent needs, the initiative will also strengthen protection services and conduct public campaigns on health, hygiene, and safety.
The EU said the comprehensive response aims not only to alleviate suffering, but to restore dignity to the most vulnerable, including women, children, and those repeatedly displaced, who are now living in precarious, overcrowded, and underserved conditions.
According to the EU in a statement by the Press and Information Officer, EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Modestus Chukwulaka, the humanitarian situation remains severe. As of July 2025, more than 615,000 people are displaced in Benue State, with an additional 65,000 in Plateau. Many are subsistence farmers who have been cut off from their farmlands during the crucial planting season.
“Most of these people are now living in overcrowded camps or informal shelters, where they face serious shortages of food, clean water, healthcare, and protection,” the EU said.
The funding is part of the EU’s wider support to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) managed by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
PIAK