‘MMM-Nigeria’, a community of mutual financial aid and donations, on Saturday donated relief materials worth N5 million to two Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Federal Capital Territory.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the gesture was part of the community’s humanitarian week tagged, ‘MMM cares’, to mark its one year anniversary.
The Gwoza and Bama IDP Camp located in Durumi area and the New Kuchingoro IDP camp were the two beneficiaries of the relief materials.
Bags of rice, beans, garri, as well as cartons of beverages and noodles, were some of the items donated by the group.
The group also donated clothing, drugs and educational materials for the pupils among them.
Mr Seyi Bello, a Guider in the ‘MMM Community’, said the donation was motivated by the desire of the group to affect the society positively, especially the less-privileged.
“We are marking our first year anniversary and we have decided to come and celebrate it with our brothers, mothers and children in the camp.
“As a community, we do not only provide help to our members, we also extend that to the larger society as part of our social responsibility.
“In these times of economic challenges, the IDPs are the ones that need help and support more than any other person; that is why we visited them today,” he said.
Bello explained that besides providing help and donations to its members, humanitarian service was a flagship programme of the group.
He said that the relief items were bought from free-will donations of members in their quest to touch lives positively.
He said: “The N5 million was raised from voluntary donations by members in the FCT.
“That is what defines us as a community of people providing financial help to each other on the principle of reciprocity and benevolence.
“In MMM there are no lenders and no debtors. One participant asks for help, another one helps.’’
Bello appealed to individuals, groups and corporate bodies to always remember the IDPs across Nigeria, since government alone would not be able to provide for them adequately.
“They are our brothers and sisters who have left the comfort of their homes and are now struggling for survival here.
“No matter how little, let us always extend a hand of help to them to complement what government and other donors are doing,” he urged.
Mr Enoch Yohanna, General Secretary of the IDP camp at New Kuchingoro, who received the items, expressed gratitude for the gesture which he described as ‘timely.’
“The Christmas season is very close; we thank MMM-Nigeria for bringing these items to us.
“We hope to share them satisfactorily among us for everybody to be happy and have a happy Christmas celebration,” he said.
NAN reports that the visit to the IDPs camps was preceded by a two-hour environmental sanitation by members of the group on Nyanya/Mararaba route, a suburb of the FCT.
Members of the group came out in their numbers to clear garbage from drainages and streets in the area. (NAN)