Benue, UNICEF Partner To Construct 2, 000 Boreholes In Eight LGAs

Benue State in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has constructed about 2, 000 boreholes in eight local government areas of the state in the past four years, THE WHISTLER reports

This was disclosed on Tuesday by the outgoing UNICEF chief field officer in Nigeria, Dr Ibrahim Conteh, when he visited Gov Samuel Ortom on a farewell visit.

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Dr Conteh said the intervention was to provide the deprived communities, especially children and women, potable water.

Our correspondent gathered that Dr Conteh has been transferred to Afghanistan.

Conteh further disclosed that the UN Agency had connected the boreholes to primary health care centres and primary schools in the communities, and assured that they would also undertake rehabilitation of the boreholes.

UNICEF has also expended about one million dollars to provide temporary learning centres in IDPs across the state, as well as partnered the ministry of education to ensure that children were enrolled in schools, he said.

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He commended Governor Ortom for providing the needed counterpart funds for the projects, as well as consistently feeding the IDPs to ensure that ‘children living in the camps are not malnourished’.

Governor Samuel Ortom expressed appreciation to UNICEF for assisting the state through various interventions and assured that apart from the counterpart funding, his administration would ensure that facilities provided by the UN Agency were well-managed.

He lamented unequal treatment of IDPs in Benue State as compared to what happens in the Northeastern, stressing that the development was against justice, fairness and equity.

Local government areas where the boreholes are cited are Konshisha, Katsina Ala, Guma, Tarka, Buruku, Ogbadibo, Oju and Obi.

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