An NGO, Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), of the Jos Catholic Archdiocese, on Wednesday donated relief materials to 368 displaced households in Plateau.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the households are taking refuge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Rawuru, Kassa and Kworos villages in Barkin Ladi Local Government.

Mr Boniface Anthony, JDPC Programme Manager in charge of Emergency Preparedness and Response Team (EPRT) department, presented the items to the displaced households at the three camps.

According to him, the donation is in collaboration with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) of the Archdiocese.

“The gesture is our own way of identifying and empathising with those displaced by the recent conflicts that hit rural communities in Plateau,” Anthony told leaders of the households.

He observed that coping with life outside one’s natural abode could be “very difficult”, and promised to continue to support the IDPs toward “some minimum comfort”.

The programme manager disclosed that the intervention was in three phases, saying that two more donations would come in September and October.

Anthony admonished the displaced persons to pray for the return of lasting peace to enable them return to their homes.

Receiving the items at their separate camps, Messrs Alex Pam, Gyang Dayak and Dalyop Pam, thanked the NGO for the kindness, but decried the dearth of sleeping spaces in the camps.

The IDPs also decried the acute shortage of food and portable drinking water, and called on government and philanthropists to come to their aid.

They urged government to intensify efforts toward lasting peace to enable the displaced persons return to their homes.

Among items delivered to the households were sleeping mats, blankets, assorted food seasonings, salt, red oil, as well as bags of rice, beans and maize. (NAN)