A former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.), on Monday, launched a project aimed at empowering and improving the livelihoods of crisis victims in Plateau State under the Victims Support Fund initiative.
Plateau State has witnessed perennial violence, leading to the deaths and displacement of hundreds of people.
Notable among the recent attacks in the state was the Christmas Eve invasion of 15 communities in the Bokkos Local Government Area by gunmen who killed over 100 residents, burnt over 200 houses and left about 10,000 people displaced.
President of the Baptist Conference in the State, Rev Koeleh Saleh recently disclosed that over 62 members of his church, including pastors and their children, were killed during the various attacks that occurred in several communities in Mangu and the neighbouring Bokkos LGAs of the state in the past eight months.
Speaking on Monday in Jos, Danjuma, who is the Chairman of VSF, said that the gesture was aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the victims in the state.
According to him, the intervention would cover food distribution, education, income generation, psychosocial support and peacebuilding initiative.
He explained that the programme, which would cost VSF over N250m to execute, would cover Bassa, Barkin-Ladi and Riyom Local Government Areas of the state.
Represented by his Special Adviser on Programmes and Operations, Mrs Toyin Akerele-Ogunsiyi, the former minister said, ‘’You will recall that VSF was established in 2014 with the mandate to provide support to victims of insecurity in the North-East.
‘’But recently, our mandate has been expanded to cover states like Plateau to improve livelihoods and build communities recently affected by conflicts.
“Our mandate include distribution of foodstuffs, educational materials, including training of teachers, income generation by providing equipment and machines to the victims to start small businesses, peacebuilding and water and sanitation, among others.
‘’Through this intervention, we intend to reach out to thousands of victims in the state and the aim is to alleviate the sufferings of those affected by the recent unrest in the state.”
Inaugurating the programme, Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, thanked VSF for the initiative, insisting that the move would provide succour to victims of attacks in the state.
The governor said that his administration would do everything possible to end the current security challenges in the state, adding that he would ensure all the displaced persons return to their original abodes.
‘’Our plan and desire is that sooner than later our people who are currently displaced return to their ancestral homes.
“We don’t want to keep our people for too long in the Internally Displaced Persons camps; we will do all it takes to get them back to their ancestral homes.
‘’But before we get to that point, these people must eat to have the strength to overcome the odds that lie ahead.
‘’This is why we are grateful to VSF for this gesture and I want to assure you that all these items will get to the actual beneficiaries,’’ he said.
