By Peter Duru
The Gen. Theophilus Danjuma’s Victims Support Funds, VSF, weekend donated a 2.5KVA solar inverter, pharmaceuticals products, hospital beds, wheelchairs and selected medical products to the Primary Healthcare Centre in Bonta Community, Konshisha Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue State.
The organization also distributed relief materials including rice, beans, garri, vegetable oil, salt, palm oil, hygiene kits, sugar and several other materials to the IDPs at Gbinde community, Shangev-Tiev in the same Konshisha LGA.
It would be recalled that neighbouring Bonta and Okpute communities in Konshisha and Oju LGAs respectively had been locked in communal clashes leading to the displacement of many and destruction of lives and property including the murder of military personnel by criminal elements in the warring communities.
Speaking shortly after commissioning the inverter and hospital equipment, the Chairperson, VSF Benue State Emergency Support Programme, Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji appealed to the community to put the items to good use and protect them from criminals and vandals.
While recalling a heartrending experience in one of Benue’s besieged communities, Mrs. Akerele-Ogunsiji said she had visited Daudu community on the prompting of Gen. Danjuma on February 7, 2022 to assess the condition of primary healthcare in the area.
She said she meet a Primary Healthcare Centre, PHC, in Daudu where women were delivered of their babies at night with flash light due to lack of power supply and after delivery would have nothing to eat because there was no source of livelihood given the attacks.
“I started weeping because I had never seen a situation like that before and I felt that it was an opportunity to do something about it,” she said.
Mrs. Akerele-Ogunsiji who commended the Chairman of VSF, Gen. Danjuma for his intervention in the communities said by his action he was steadily impacting the lives of needy Nigerians.
She advised the people to live in peace with one another and desist from acts that could jeopardize the existing peace in the area assuring of the preparedness of VSF to support and assist the communities.
Earlier while welcoming the team on behalf of the Council Chairman, Mrs. Christiana Amile, the immediate past Vice Chairman of the Council, Sam Kave lauded VSF for identifying with the people in their time of need assuring that the donated materials would be safeguarded and put to good use.
The kindred head of Mbatser, Zaki Terkaa Nenger promised to work assiduously to ensure sustained peace between his subjects and neighbouring Okpute people.
Other speakers including the Executive Secretary, Benue State Primary Healthcare Board, Mrs. Ashi Wende, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals, Prof. Magdalene Dura all advised the people to live in peace with their neighbours in order to attract development to the area.