BY JULIET EKWENUGO
Kaduna
The Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), with support from Barnabas Aid UK, has commenced a large-scale humanitarian intervention targeting about 5,000 vulnerable households across several states in Northern Nigeria.
Chairman of Northern CAN, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, disclosed this during the distribution of food items to 1,000 households in Kaduna State, describing the exercise as one of the largest humanitarian outreaches undertaken by the association in recent times.
Hayab explained that the intervention, which covers Kaduna, Borno, Plateau and Benue states, is aimed at supporting victims of violent attacks, displaced persons and other vulnerable groups within Christian communities in the North.
According to him, if an average household size of five to ten persons is considered, the programme would directly and indirectly impact tens of thousands of Nigerians struggling with insecurity and economic hardship.
“This is not just about Kaduna. What we are doing here is part of a wider intervention that will reach about 5,000 households across Northern Nigeria,” Hayab said. “That means many more lives will be touched beyond what we see here today.”
He noted that each beneficiary household received food items including 25kg bags of rice, beans and maize, as well as groundnut oil, red palm oil, sugar, salt and cartons of indomie noodles, to help cushion the effects of hardship, especially during the Christmas season.
Hayab said the gesture was meant to restore hope and dignity to affected families, adding that the distribution was also accompanied by prayers and words of encouragement to remind beneficiaries that they are not forgotten.
Similarly, vice Chairman of Northern CAN, Dr. Jonah Samson, said the outreach reflects the Christian mandate of love and compassion, stressing that the association deliberately prioritised the most vulnerable.
“As Christians, one of our core mandates is to love one another. It was for love that Christ came so that we might be saved,” Samson said. “This support is reaching the persecuted, displaced persons, widows, orphans and persons living with disabilities across different communities and denominations.”
Some of the beneficiaries, including Ezra Barnabas of Grace Baptist Church, Maraban Rido, and a visually impaired pastor of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), Amos Bande, described the support as timely and uplifting.
Hayab commended Barnabas Aid UK for making the intervention possible, assuring that Northern CAN would continue to combine advocacy with humanitarian support in standing with vulnerable communities across the North.
Beneficiaries included widows, persons with disabilities, victims of religious violence, and internally displaced families.
The items distributed ranged from rice, beans, maize, and garri to groundnut oil, palm oil, sugar, seasoning cubes, and salt.
