TheCable

Over 11 million poor Nigerians have been identified by the federal government to benefit from the palliatives to cushion the harsh effects of COVID-19.

Schools, markets and shops have been shut down as a result of the pandemic which has put most of the world on lockdown.

Speaking during the briefing by the presidential task force on COVID-19 on Tuesday, Sadiya Umar Farouk, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, said the government already has a social register with details of those considered as the vulnerable in society.

This, she said, covers 35 states of the federation with around 2.6 million households mapped across the country.

Farouk also disclosed that internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north-east have received two months rations of relief materials.

On Monday, she said the federal government had commenced cash transfer to Nigeria’s poorest households to cushion the effects of the pandemic.