Shettima visits Niger IDP camp, pledges support for flood, insecurity victims
Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Friday, visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Gwada, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state.
He said the visit was at the directive of President Bola Tinubu towards addressing the plight of the people in the camp as well as giving succour to victims of floods and insecurity.
“We have come to reaffirm the committment of the president towards ameliorating the suffering of our people.
“We are aware many lives have been lost and people have lost means of livelihoods as well as property worth millions affected. I learned about fourteen local government areas that are affected in Niger.
“We have come on an assessment tour and we assured the government and people of Niger state that the president is posed to assist all states of the federation,” he said.
He announced that N3 billion has been released to each state of the federation to assist them in addressing issues of flooding.
He noted that a scientific approach and assessment would be done on states like Borno, Niger, Sokoto, Delta, Jigawa and Bayelsa with more incidents of flood and deserved states would be fully supported.
According to him, this is because governance is all about the people and because the president has the interest of the people at heart.
On the recent tanker explosion that claimed the lives of 60 persons in Niger, Mr Shettima said the president had intervened decisively in the area of infrastructure, especially on East-West and Badagry to Sokoto roads.
He disclosed that the road where the accident happened was under construction, adding that the government would continue to address the challenges of infrastructure deficit in the country.
In his remarks, Gov. Umaru Bago of Niger said that the visit was to sympathise with people affected by flood disasters and insecurity in the state.
Mr Bago lauded the effort of the president in the release of funds to cater for victims of flooding across the country.
He said that the state government would continue to complement the federal government’s efforts in addressing the social challenges of citizens.
The items donated to the IDPs by the vice president were mattresses, rice, beans, groundnut oil, salt, soap, and blankets, among others.
The vice president was accompanied by Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara and Mohammed Idris, minister for information and national orientation.
Others are Abdullahi Sabi, minister of state for agriculture and Zubaida Umar, director-general of NEMA.
