The Victim Support Fund (VSF) has commenced distribution of educational materials to pupils in communities affected by Boko Haram insurgency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
VSF Executive Director, Prof. Sunday Ochoche stated this at a ceremony to flag off the distribution on Thursday in Askira, Borno.
Ochoche said 50, 000 pupils would benefit from the 2019/2020 education support programme of the fund from the three states alongside training for 1, 000 teachers in the affected areas.
Ochoche said with the current intervention, the fund had so far supported 250,000 pupils in the affected states.
“So far, VSF has about 200,000 children on the education support programme and today we are adding additional 50,000 children bringing the total number of children supported by VSF in area of education to 250,000.
“VSF has identified education as a critical sector that we need to intervene in particular to challenge and transform the very ideology that gave birth to Boko Haram.
“If we are going to have a lasting solution to Boko Haram insurgency, education is one area that we must seriously address, ’’ Ochoche said.
The executive director who cautioned against selling the materials said anyone that sell out the materials would be worst than Boko Haram and should be arrested.
VSF Chairman, retired Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, urged the people of North East to embrace education if they must succeed in fighting the twin evils of poverty and extremism.
Danjuma, represented by Alhaji Alkasim Abdulkadir, member, Presidential Committee on VSF asked the people to make maximum use of the opportunity provided by VSF who had been expending millions supporting education in the area.
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno, lauded VSF various interventions in the state pointing out that they had helped transformed the beneficiaries, particularly in communities affected by insurgency.
The VSF team was also in Ga’anda village in Gombi Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa, where it flagged-off distribution of N50, 000 each to 2, 000 women under its women economic empowerment programme.
The programme was aimed at supporting small scale women entrepreneurs to boost their business.
