The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) donated 10 oxygen concentrators to internally displaced persons in Benue State on Friday.
The leader of the UNHCR sub-office and Head of Ogoja, Ms. Irene Omendi, announced the donation during a visit on Benue State Governor Hyacinth Iormem Alia in Makurdi.
Omendi appreciated the Benue State government for allowing refugees of Cameroonian descent to settle in Ikyogen, Kwande local government area of the state.
She said the hospitality the state government has granted the refugees and the peaceful coexistence noticeable between the locals and refugees is something that needs to be commended.
According to Omendi, the hospitality accorded to the refugees by the state government, the UNHRC has decided to donate 10 oxygen concentrators at Abande, Ikyogen, as well as at St. Monica’s Hospital in Adikpo, as a medical intervention to the people of the area.
Ms. Omendi, while also commending the Alia-led administration for its efforts at returning the IDPs in the state to their ancestral homes, called for more support for the IDPs through the provision of schools, hospitals, and other basic amenities, assuring her organisation’s continued support, including in the area of capacity building.
Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, while receiving the oxygen, assured of his administration’s commitment to tackling issues threatening peaceful coexistence and harmony in the state.
He thanked the United Nations for always offering help, restoring hope to the hopeless, giving respite to the traumatised, providing shelter to the homeless, and helping to build a better future for those who have lost their livelihoods as a result of the crisis.
“In short, you have not only been saving lives but have been ensuring that the rights and the human dignity of those being violated, persecuted, or subjected to violence get respite.
” You find for them respect and safety that their own people or authorities sometimes deny them. Above all, you build for them a better future away from their original homes, thus bringing meaning and happiness into their lives again,” the governor stated.
