Nigerian Concord Newspaper
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has lauded the humanitarian intervention offered to victims of flood disaster in the state by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Ortom who received a delegation from the Church on a courtesy call Tuesday, November 1st, 2022 in the Conference Hall of the Governor’s Lodge at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi extolled the Church for meeting both the spiritual and temporal needs of the people.
The Governor acknowledged that the humanitarian gesture by the Church was a great show of love to the people of the state, emphasising that it would rekindle hope in those displaced by the flood and were facing trying moments.
“In my judgement, you are truly living by the word of God, by meeting not just the spiritual needs but also the temporal needs of the people. I commend you for this humanitarian gesture.
“I assure you that these relief items will be distributed to the victims by the State Emergency Management Agency to alleviate the plight of the flood victims,” Ortom stated.
According to Governor Ortom, since the beginning of this year, it was the first time the State Government was receiving such huge humanitarian intervention for displaced persons in the state from a non-governmental body, stating that the faith-based organization was living true to its Christian calling to offer hope to those in hopeless conditions.
The Governor on behalf of the government and people of the state expressed profound appreciation to the Church and its leadership for the gesture to identify with the State over the humanitarian crisis it was confronted with.
He further appealed to other organizations and public-spirited individuals to do more in reaching out to those displaced not just in Benue State but also in other parts of the country who are facing similar challenges.
The Regional Welfare and Self Reliance Manager, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Mr Charles Adebayo had earlier told the Governor that the humanitarian arm of the Church was touched by the crisis in Benue State and decided to offer intervention for those displaced, especially by the recent flooding which ravaged the state.
He explained that the Church had come with relief materials worth 150,000 Dollars to offer succour to those displaced as a result of the flood to ameliorate their condition.
Mr Adebayo listed the relief materials for the displaced persons to include, 800 bags of rice, 800 bags of beans, 400 bags of garri, 300 bags of Semolina, 200 cartons of beverages, 400 cartons of noodles and 200 cartons of spices.
Others include 500 sachets of salt and sugar, 1500 sachets of crayfish, buckets and toiletries among other relief items.
“We feel the presentation of these items will help in alleviating the suffering of our people in Benue State, and on behalf of Latter-Day Saints Charities we hereby present these things to you, sir,” Adebayo said.
The Head of Service, Veronica Onyeke, Commissioner for Water Resources and Environment, Dr Godwin Oyiwona, Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Barrister Michael Gusa, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Terver Akase, Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr Emmanuel Shior among other government officials joined the Governor to receive the Church delegation.