The Federal Government says the families of wounded and fallen soldiers will be included in the national social register and its poverty alleviation programmes.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, made the disclosure at a meeting with Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, on Monday in Abuja.
Edu said, ”We want to expand our social register to accommodate military personnel that have either been wounded or affected by war even soldiers that left their families behind, and added, “’ We need this data from the military so that we can have them captured under the social register”.
She added, “Our preference is to discuss humanitarian crises across the nation and the need to collaborate with the military to prevent more persons coming under the humanitarian bracket.
”We also should be able to reach out effectively to those affected by humanitarian crises wherever they are.
”So that our humanitarian workers should be able to reach the people wherever they are with the support of the military”.
Reacting, Gen. Musa assured the minister of the commitment of the Nigerian military to support her towards achieving the ministry’s mandate.
Musa, who acknowledged the link between military operations and humanitarian aid, noted that successful organisations directly benefit their military efforts.
The defence chief, therefore, expressed gratitude to the humanitarian ministry for considering the military community on the task, while assuring the minister of his unwavering commitment towards her humanitarian mission, the defence chief was optimistic that the collaboration would yield positive results.
