Church donates $150,000 in relief materials to victims of Benue Flood

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on November 1st, 2022, donated $150,000.00 worth of relief materials to the victims of the recent flood disaster in Benue State, Nigeria.

Charles Adebayo, Regional Manager for Welfare and Self-Reliance Services for the Church who made the donation on behalf of the Church, said the intervention is the Church’s way of supporting victims of the disaster, same way the church has always responded to emergencies across the globe. “We came to the knowledge of the recent flood disaster in Benue state, and the Church has come to offer its hands of assistance to support our brothers and sisters who have been affected in the various communities".

The relief materials included 800 bags of rice, 800 bags of beans, 200 bags of semovita, 200 cartons of beverages, 200 palm oil splits, vegetables oil splits, 400 cartons of noodles, 200 cartons of spices, 500 sachets of salt, sugar, 400 bags of garri and 1,500 sachets of crayfish. Cartons of detergents, toilet soap and other toiletries were also donated.

Receiving the items on behalf of the State, the Executive Governor, Samuel Ortom commended the Church for the intervention and also urged other faith-based organisations to emulate this kind gesture.

In his words, “I think for this year, as far as I know, this is the first time an organisation outside the government is bringing relief and help to us here in Benue State. In my own judgement, you have truly demonstrated the love of Jesus Christ by caring for our physical and spiritual needs. More than delivering these relief materials, I thank you for taking the risks to come here in the middle of incessant attacks on our communities by insurgents."

He promised that the items would be judiciously distributed by the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to the over 134,000 persons displaced by flood in the state.

As a way of appreciation to the Church, Governor Ortom symbolically, dressed the Charles Adebayo with a historical and traditional regalia representing the different tribes of Benue State and their bravery.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ joined the Benue State Emergency Agency to deliver a portion of the relief materials to Gboko Road, Internally Displaced Persons camp. The people were happy to receive these unexpected gifts at this crucial time of their distress. Ambassador Frank Makashinan, Deputy Charman of Markurdi Local Government expressed his excitement too; "When things like this happen and you feel there is no way out and you now see agents of God coming, then you know that God is still alive, and God has not forgotten nor forsaken you. We are grateful and extremely excited about this gesture".

The 2022 flood disaster in Nigeria affected 33 of the 36 States of the Federation, resulting in the loss of over 600 lives, over 1.5 million displaced persons with thousands of hectares of farmlands washed away.