Edo government, cleric donate food items, others to IDPs, orphans, inmates

PHOTO: HuffingtonPost

The Edo State Government has donated food items and footwear worth millions of naira to Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ohogua, Ovia North-East Local Council of the state.

The state government also donated food items to selected orphanages across Benin metropolis.

The Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Special Duties, Mr. Yakubu Gowon, who presented the items to the IDPs in their camp on behalf of the state government, said the Obaseki-led administration is committed to bringing succour to the less-privileged in the state.

He said: “The donation is to show the state governor’s love for his people and that he is committed to making them happy.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Magdalene Ohenhen, said the state government was committed to taking care of the IDPs, assuring that the donation of relief materials by the Edo State Government would be done on a continuous basis.

Meanwhile, Obaseki, in his Christmas message, had asked Christian faithful to uphold the spirit of giving and good neighbourliness as they marked Boxing Day.

He urged Nigerians to avail themselves the opportunity to mend fences and restore broken relationship with neighbours, friends and fellow citizens.

In a similar vein, the Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, has donated gift items to Onitsha Prison inmates to celebrate Christmas with them.

In a homily during the Eucharistic celebration at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Chaplaincy Chapel inside the Prison, the Archbishop said he decided to celebrate with those incarcerated inside the prison because Christmas has no boundary.

He advised the inmates to always live in faith that God is aware of their problems and would always answer their prayers and respond to their needs whenever they call upon Him with faith.