By Ismail Auwal
.Northern Governors donate N20m, NEDC offers N5m
A committee set up by the Governor of Borno State, Engineer Babagana Umara Zulum, has distributed N600,000 and bags of food items to each of the 48 grieving families of Zabarmari farmers killed last Saturday.
The fund came from combined support of N20m by the Northern Governors Forum, and N5m by the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC). Borno State government had earlier given each family N200,000 based on Zulum’s directive.
A committee chaired by Borno’s Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Saina Buba, coordinated the Thursday’s distribution of relief items in Zabarmari. The committee consisted of a member of House of Representatives representing Jere federal constituency, a member of Borno House of Assembly representing Jere, two Special Advisers to Borno State’s Governor, and the Chairman-elect for Jere local government.
Zabarmari, where the deceased’s families lived, is located at Jere, in central part of Borno State.
A total of 13,000 bags of rice, maize, and beans, 1,300 cans of vegetable oil, 2116 cartons of seasoning cubes, 1083 tomato paste, and 650 sachets of salts were donated by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development for distribution to the families, announced the Committee’s Chairman, Buba.
He noted that each family will combine the N600,000 cash and food varieties not as compensation for the deaths of their loved ones, but to reduce hardship resulting from gaps in access to livelihoods created by the death of mostly male victims, who were breadwinners of the affected families.
