The European Union (EU) has approved an additional €250,000 (over ₦450 million) in humanitarian assistance to support 15,000 people displaced by violent attacks in Benue and Plateau states.
The EU said the funding will enable the Nigerian Red Cross to deliver urgent aid to 2,500 vulnerable households who have been displaced for more than four months. The assistance package includes emergency cash support, essential household items, healthcare, psychosocial services, and access to safe water and sanitation.
Beyond immediate relief, the initiative will strengthen protection services and run health, hygiene, and safety awareness campaigns. “This comprehensive approach aims not only to alleviate suffering but also to safeguard the dignity of vulnerable people—especially women, children, and those repeatedly displaced—now living in precarious and underserved conditions,” the EU stated.
The humanitarian crisis in both states remains severe. As of July 2025, over 615,000 people are displaced in Benue and another 65,000 in Plateau, many of them subsistence farmers cut off from their land during the crucial planting season. Most now reside in overcrowded camps or makeshift shelters, facing acute shortages of food, clean water, healthcare, and protection.
The latest funding forms part of the EU’s contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). It comes after a €500,000 (about ₦886 million) grant was provided in July to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to meet urgent needs of displaced people in Benue.
The EU warned that persistent and targeted violence in both states continues to fuel a protracted protection crisis, causing widespread destruction and worsening humanitarian needs. “With new security threats emerging weekly, the need for sustained humanitarian action remains paramount,” it added.
