NDDC donates food items, cash to IDPs in C'River

NDDC handing over the items to the National Coordinators of Bakassi IDPs camps, Prince Ashton Joseph Inyang

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) through it Directorate of Education, Health and Social Services has donated food items worth millions of naira as well as undisclosed amount of money to the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Cross River State.

Representatives of New Netim community in Odukpani local government area displaced by ravaging communal clash with the Qua clan also in Odukpani were in the Commission's office on Monday in Calabar to receive their items and cash, while the Commission visited Ikot Effiom/Ekpri Obutong IDPs camp in Bakassi on Tuesday for the donation.

Speaking, the NDDC Chairman, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba said the gesture was inline with the commission's commitment to the wellbeing of people of the region.

Ndoma-Egba, represented by his Communication aide, Mrs. Clara Braide said ,"We are here to identify with the plight of the IDPs in Cross River State. They wrote to us requesting for this and we responded because we're always ready to stretch our hands of love to them. As an interventionist agency, we will continue to support them.

"The President Muhammadu Buhari administration is very committed to the peace and wellbeing of the Niger Deltans and we will continue to work to ensure that peace return to every community within the region".

The Chairman added that "This is just one of the things we have in stock for them. We understand their many challenges therefore we are saying that the commission under me will continue to support them because the government of the day is very empathetic towards the  Region and it's People"

Head of the New Netim community, His Highness, Ntufam Raphael Ita said that the community was grateful to the leadership of the NDDC for the gesture even as he appealed to other government agencies and NGOs to also come to their aide.

Head of the New Netim community, His Highness, Ntufam Raphael Ita, receiving the items

Ita however appealed to the commission to help them with building materials and "enough money" to enable them rebuild their houses they lost to the clashes.

He said that "We thank NDDC for the assistance. We're praying that they should do more by assisting us with building materials and more money to rehabilitate our houses. I also appeal to government agencies and NGOs to come to our aide".

Also commending the NDDC, the National Coordinator of Bakassi IDPs camps, Prince Ashton Joseph Inyang said that "We're happy that stories said as frame is today a reality. Many agencies have come here to ask our problems but never returned but we're very grateful that the NDDC is here today to identify with us.

Food items distributed to the New Netim IDPs on Monday in Calabar

"What the NDDC has done today portrays an exhibition to all the camps. They have done so much and we're exceptionally grateful to them".

On his part, the camp Leader, Moses Bassey decried that the camp was lacking basic social amenities like school, hospitals, amongst others.

"We thank the NDDC for the visit but we have many other problems. It is our desire that this support should also expand to other areas like organizing skills acquisition training for us because the government has stopped training us.

Also, We have serious accommodation problems. We're about 4,715 in this camp and out of the 300 housing units built for us by government, only about 200 were completed. So, imagine 4,715 people living in 200 houses", he said.

Bassey added that "I want to appeal to government to resume the conditional cash transfer which has since been stopped. Here, we don't have light, no water, hospital and there's complete absence of security. We need government to help us address these things".