FIVE hundred underprivileged people in Oyo State have benefitted from food items distributed as relief packages by the Muslim Coaliton Against COVID-19.
The items distributed are rice, beans and garri.
The beneficiaries, coordinated by five Muslim organisations under the coalition, were drawn from 10 local government areas.
The local governments are Afijio, Atiba, Ibarapa, Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso South, Ibadan North, Ibadan North West, Ibadan South West, Akinyele and Lagelu.
The five coordinatimg organisations are the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Dawah Front, The Muslim Congress (TMC), Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Al-Mu’minaat (The Believing Women) Organisation.
At the presentation of the packages in Ibadan to the organisations for onward distribution to the beneficiaries, the Oyo State coordinator of the group, Alhaji Abideen Ladeji, said the palliatives were meant to reduce the hardship being faced by the people in the midst of the ravaging coronavirus pandemic.
“The beneficiaries are basically the poor, irrespective of religion and people with disabilities. These are people who are mostly affected by this lockdown due to coronavirus.
“We are starting this distribution in Abuja, Lagos, Rivers, Oyo and Osun states and we have spent over N5 million for the pilot scheme,” Alhaji Ladeji said.
He said the coalition, which consists of over 50 organisations, aimed to spend N500 million on the vulnerable throughout the country, stressing that they would come back to Oyo State to cover more local government areas.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Tijani Abdullah, a person with disability, commended the gesture and described it as timely.
“A lot of persons with disabilities are just there at home suffering from hunger at this period of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. We really appreciate this gesture,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Mrs Oyedele Afsat, equally commended the coalition, saying things were very difficult at this period.
She called on government at all levels to come to the aid of the underprivileged in the society.
