The Wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, has urged the National Social Investment Programme to support poor people in Katsina State, including those devastated by banditry.
Buhari who was in Batsari, Katsina State on Saturday to distribute relief materials to victims of banditry, noted that although N500 billion was released by the Federal Government to assist vulnerable Nigerians, only a few had benefited.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that when Buhari asked the IDPs if any of them had received the N10,000 assistance, the response was negative.
She then said: “National Social Investment Programme should go to Katsina State and give them their assistance.
“These people gave over one million votes during the general elections.
“They really need the assistance and they deserve to be given.”
Hajiya Buhari also urged the National Emergency Management Agency to come to the aid of the Internally Displaced Persons in the state.
Earlier, the Transition Committee Chairman, Batsari Local Government, Alhaji Mannir Muazu, said tover 18,000 people were displaced by banditry in the area.
Muazu said 13,000 of the victims were children, while the remaining 4,000 were women from 28 communities across the area.
Some of the IDPs interviewed commended Buhari for the gesture.
Malama Fatima Kasai, a female victim, said the bandits dislodged them from their community, took away their food and valuables, killed majority of their husbands and raped some of the women.
Kasai urged the government to take measures to end the attacks and prevent a reoccurrence.
NAN reports that the relief materials distributed by Hajiya Buhari included rice, milk and clothes.
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