Kaduna distributes food items to victims of army air strike

The Kaduna state government, and Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN), have distributed food items and vitamin fortified farm seedlings to 100 households.

The households were those affected by the army’s accidental air strike on Tudun Biri in December.

ANRiN is a project funded by the World Bank. It aims to increase quality and cost-effective nutrition services for pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, and children under five years of age.

On December 3, over 30 people in Tudun Biri, Igabi LGA of Kaduna state, were killed by an army drone strike. Scores were left injured as well.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor of the state, reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that the promises made to Tudun Biri community were fulfilled.

Balarabe was represented by Fatima Abubakar, the acting director, administration and finance of the state emergency management agency.

She noted that the distribution of the food items and farming needs was a step towards ameliorating the sufferings of the drone attack victims.

Zainab Muhammad-Idris, coordinator of ANRiN project in Kaduna and the national president-elect of the medical women association in Nigeria, said the gesture was an emergency response to bring relief to the Tudun Biri community.

Muhammad-Idris said the event also featured training for the women, and home gardening techniques for the men, to provide them with the opportunity to re-engineer their farming skills.

She added that the World Bank swung ANRiN into action by going to the community to make assessments and establish the reality on the ground, following the visit by Kashim Shettima, the vice-president.

She implored the beneficiary households to make judicious use of the items, while urging other individuals, corporate bodies and philanthropists to emulate the gesture.

Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Sulaiman Shuaibu, the ward head of Tudun Biri, appreciated the state government for the support.

The food items distributed were bags of rice, beans, millet, salt and palm oil, while the vitamin fortified seedlings were those of potatoes, tomatoes, okra, among others.