The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has commenced the distribution of relief materials to 13,299 households affected by the 2022 flood disaster in Gombe State.
The items being distributed comprise of food and non-food materials, such as rice, beans, sorghum, blankets, mats, mosquito nets and detergents.
Other non-food items include sewing machines, grinding machines, water pumps for dry-season farmers, sprayers, fertilizers, herbicides and seedlings.
The Chief Administration Officer of NEMA in Abuja, Mr. Yusuf Isah, said the gesture was under the Special National Economic and Livelihood Emergency Intervention, aimed at bringing succour to victims and vulnerable persons in Gombe State.
Mr. Isah said in Kwami Local Government Area alone, where the flag-off was hosted, over 1,300 households would benefit.
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Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar Njodi, commended the federal government for the gesture.
He said the materials would assist the beneficiaries cushion the impact of the flood which ravaged several communities in the state.
He appealed to the beneficiaries to make good use of the items and warned them against selling the items, because it was given to them to alleviate poverty and empower them economically.
The governor also called on those distributing the materials to ensure that only the targeted persons and the vulnerable were reached with the relief materials.
He gave assurances that the state government would soon roll out its palliatives across the state to help the citizens cushion the impact of fuel subsidy removal and the current hardship being faced by Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Emergency Management Agency, Mr. Haruna Abdullahi, commended the federal government and NEMA for coming to the aid of the flood victims in the state.
Mr. Abdullahi said the 2022 flood caused extensive damage in 33 communities across the state.
“The sad incidence has caused the loss of 13 human lives in four Local Government Areas of Funakaye, Kwami, Yamaltu Deba, and Kaltungo with property estimated at millions of Naira lost,” said Mr. Abdullahi.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Adamu Jibril said the impact of the flood in their community was severe and rendered many poor.
Jibril said the flood had washed two hectares of his farmland and left him sad.
“But today with what I have been given, I feel happy and thankful to the Federal Government, NEMA and the Gombe State government too,” he said.
Other beneficiaries also showed their appreciation to NEMA and said they would use the materials given to them to start small businesses to assist their households with the empowerment packages.
