IRC Allocates $250,000 Emergency Relief Fund for Plateau IDPs

The International Rescue Committee has allocated the sum of $250,000 as an emergency relief fund for victims of the conflicts in Plateau State.

According to the organisation, the allocation is to support and address the urgent needs of displaced persons in the state.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the crisis that erupted in the Mangu Local Government Area of the state.

In a statement on Friday by the IRC Country Director in Nigeria, Babatunde Ojei, residents of the state had been confronted by the crisis that had led to the deaths and displacement of several residents.

The statement read,  “The International Rescue Committee is swiftly responding to the escalating conflict in Plateau State, North-Central Nigeria, by allocating $250,000 in emergency relief funds.

“This vital support aims to address the urgent needs of displaced individuals, encompassing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene initiatives, safety measures, economic recovery and development, and the incorporation of safeguarding principles across all intervention programs.”

Meanwhile, women and children are the most severely affected by persistent communal clashes in Plateau State, which have claimed about 200 lives in the last four months, according to the INGO.

IRC said, in a statement mailed to journalists, that many more lives than the ones lost were unaccounted for across the 48 communities affected by the conflicts.

 Some of the impacted communities, according to IRC, remain inaccessible, impeding accurate victim assessments.

 “Plateau State has endured a long history of deadly conflicts, and the current crisis has witnessed a distressing surge in casualties, property destruction, and mass displacement,” the statement quoted the IRC Country Director in Nigeria, Babatunde Ojei, as saying.

The INGO said the latest information revealed to it from the most affected Mangu Local Government Area showed that nearly 19,000 people had been

internally displaced due to the conflict and the destruction of farmland, making access to food and income generation challenging.

“Of these, about one-third are children aged zero to five, and 10 per cent are widows,” the organisation said.

“The situation in Plateau State is dire, demanding immediate action and attention to aid those ensnared in the ongoing conflict,” its West Africa Regional Communication Manager, Vianey Afangbedji, was quoted as saying.