The Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, has donated relief materials including food and non-food items to Internally Displaced Persons in Borno State in remembrance of the Chibok school girls who were abducted by Boko Haram insurgents 3 years ago.
Managing Director of the NPA, Hadiza Usman, who is the co-founder of the Bring Back Our Girls, BBOG, campaign group, said the donation was to identify with Borno State, which is the most affected by the insurgency.
Handing over the relief materials to Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima at the the NEMA Warehouse, in Maiduguri, the NPA boss said that her heart is still with the Chibok girls, most of whom have remained in captivity almost three years after.
Usman recalled that the management and staff of NPA also made similar donations in 2016.
She assured that the NPA will continue to assist and support the IDPs and also prayed for the safe return of the remaining Chibok school girls.
She also noted that the federal government was working assiduously and supporting the Nigerian military as well as collaborating with the international community to ensure quick return of the missing girls.
According to Usman, the items donated by the NPA include 2,540 bags of rice, 29,200 pieces of blankets, 107, 450 pieces of leather mats, 1,650 kegs of palm oil, 2,100 bags of beans, and 600 bags of Guinea corn.
Others are 1,400 bags, 4620 pieces of wrappers 4,620, 1,950 lanterns, 830 mattresses and 2,100 mosquito nets.
Usman commended Governor Shettima for the manner with which he has coordinated the humanitarian crisis in the State.
Governor Shettima in his response, commended the NPA MD for championing, “Bring Back Out Girls” crusade, stressing that the entire Borno people cannot forget her in a hurry for being with them in their most trying period.
The governor described Usman as one of the few Nigerians with an impeccable character.
He said: “A lion cannot give birth to a goat or sheep except a lion or lioness. Your father was a radical person and man of principles and history remembers him as someone who stood for the poor masses of this country during this lifetime and he has left behind a legacy which his daughter has been championing as a brave and capable woman”.
The governor urged Usman to keep up her good work at the Ports Authority, assuring her of his support and that of the entire people of Borno State.
During the distribution of some of the items to the IDPs at the A Kassi camp, Executive Chairman of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Ahmed Satomi disclosed to the NPA boss her that there were over 25,000 registered IDPs at the camp from five local government areas of the state, namely, Gwoza, Marte, Nganzai, Guzamala and Monguno.