Hardship: FG releases 44,656 bags of grains to poor FCT households

The federal government has released 44,656 bags of grains for distribution to poor and vulnerable households in the FCT.

The FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, who disclosed this on Thursday in Gwagwalada Area Council while handing over the food items to the six area councils, said the grains consisted of 23,996 (25kg) bags of rice, 4,680 (50kg) bags of maize, 13,920 (50kg) bags of sorghum, 1,100 (50kg) bags of millet and 960 (25kg) bags of garri.

She said the gesture was to address the biting food shortage affecting Nigerians, particularly poor and vulnerable households.

The minister commended the federal government for the gesture, stressing that it would alleviate the burden of scarcity and high cost of food items on poor Nigerians.

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She assured that necessary security measures had been taken to ensure seamless distribution of the grains.

She, therefore, appealed to residents to conduct themselves in a responsible and orderly manner and cooperate fully with the distribution teams for the success of the exercise.

Earlier, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Hajiya Zubaida Umar, said the grains were part of the 42,000 metric tonnes of grains being distributed across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.

She noted that in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu, 20 per cent of the grains were earmarked for religious organisations and three per cent for boarding schools in the area councils.

A beneficiary, Mrs Ladi Douglas, a mother of three, said the support would significantly reduce hunger among poor households.

Mrs Douglas, who received a 50kg bag of maize, commended Tinubu for the support, stressing that it would help her to feed her family.