Nigeria to send aid to Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region

LAGOS, July 13 (AFP) — Nigeria will send relief materials valued at 14 million naira (104,000 dollars) to assist people in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, an official statement said Tuesday.

At least 10,000 people have been killed, more than a million displaced and hundreds of thousands face starvation in Darfur, after rebels from the region took up arms in February 2003 against the government and its allied militia.

“In response to an appeal for humanitarian aid for refugees of the Sudan conflict currently in the Darfur region, the federal government has concluded arrangement to airlift and distribute relief materials worth about 14 million naira to the refugees,” the statement said.

The request was made by Sudan’s ambassador to Nigeria, Abdel Rahim Akhali, during a meeting with Nigerian officials.

The relief items were “2,000 pieces of blankets and towels, 600 bags of rice, 1,000 cartons of premixed beverages, 500 bags of salt, 300 bags of flour and 300 kegs of vegetable oil,” the statement said.

The state-run National Emergency Management Agency said its officials will leaved for the troubled region with the materials on Thursday, describing the situation in the region as the “world’s worst humanitarian disaster requiring the urgent attention of international donors”.