A SALVATION Army response to flooding in Nigeria has received a positive response from beneficiaries and excellent coverage in the local media. The floods affected several council areas around the capital city, Lagos.
More than 500 families (over 3,000 people) were assisted, with funds provided through International Emergency Services, which is based at The Salvation Army's International Headquarters in London. Each family received enough food for a month and non-food items including clothes, babywear, wellington boots, slippers and toiletries. The total relief effort cost about US$60,000.
The internally displaced people and local government officials were thankful to The Salvation Army and its donors. They were particularly grateful for the way in which everyone had been treated with dignity. One local newspaper reported that The Salvation Army 'appeared on the scene like a matador and wrestled the bull of deprivation to submission, giving these people a new lease of life'.
The emergency response moved on to the city of Ibadan, around 100 miles to the north, where 2,000 people have been displaced by floods and more than 100 have lost their lives.
