B/Haram: FG identifies victims’ locations for food airdrop

The National Humanitarian Coordination Committee (NHCC) has identified locations of communities that were ‘inaccessible’ by road for delivery of foods and non-food items by airdrop approach via helicopters.

The committee led by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiyya Umar-Farouq, inspected the airdrop demonstration by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) helicopters at the Maiduguri International Airport.

The committee also inspected aircraft loads of food and non-food items that would be conveyed to those unreachable-by-road vulnerable communities liberated from Boko Haram militants by the military.

The Air Taskforce Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Air Commodore Precious Amadi, while briefing the committee shortly after the demonstration said the airdrop was meant to take foods to places that could not be reached by road.

“The purpose of the airdrop is to ensure that locations that cannot be reached by road have access to food supply by air using helicopters.

“The Nigerian Air Force has the capacity to use airdrop to drop foods for people so that there would be no case of people being starved,” Air Commodore Amadi said.

The minister, while rounding up the visit, told newsmen that Kala-Balge, Marte, and Damboa Local Government Areas of the state are locations where the food airdrop delivery exercise would be carried out.