The Federal Government on Wednesday handed over 5,400 bags of 50kg rice and other relief items to Anambra, Sokoto and Nasarawa states to cushion the effect of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the relief items were loaded into nine trucks from the Seme border Customs warehouse for onward delivery to the people of the three states.
Mrs Kemi Adedeji, Lagos State Coordinator, National Social Safety Net Project, who presented the items to officials of the three states on behalf of Hajiyah Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said the gesture was in fulfillment of Federal Governmentโs promise to cushion effects of COVID-19.
She said that the palliatives, which included 98 jerrycans of vegetable oil, should be distributed to indigent people in the states.
Adedeji urged the officials of the three state governments to ensure that the relief materials get to those it was intended for.
Handing over the relief items, Acting Customs Area Comptroller in Seme, Dalha Wada, said the Comptroller General of Customs, retired Col. Hammed Ali, had directed release of the relief items as palliatives to the states in compliance with Federal Government directive.
The customs boss said that the items had been checked and certified as good for human consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Receiving the items on behalf of Anambra Government, the State Liaison Officer in Lagos, Mrs Uloma Wise, thanked the Federal Government for the assistance.
Wise promised that the relief materials would be distributed among the needy in the state.
