More than 10,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Lainya County of Central Equatoria State have received assorted food assistance from Plan International.

Over the past months, residents in Lainya County have been displaced by fighting between the SSPDF and the National Salvation Front (NAS) and an invasion of several Payams by armed pastoralists.

A few months ago, the commissioner of Lainya County, Emmanuel Khamis Richard, appealed for humanitarian assistance to rescue the most vulnerable IDPs who were desperate. 

Sadik Ramdan, the Lainya County coordinator of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that the assorted food items included sorghum, beans, salt, and cooking oil were donated by the World Food Program (WFP) and distributed by the implementing partner, Plan International.

“The food that was delivered by WFP through Plan International is an emergency food ratio for three months and it targeted a population of 10,400 individuals in Loka, Kupera, Lokurbang, Berekeka, and Lokwilili Bomas,” Ramadan said.

Alison Lemi, a Loka IDP, appreciated Plan International for the assistance rendered to them and said the food donation has put a smile on the faces of his children and other family members. He appealed to the humanitarian agencies to prioritize distributing farming tools such as hoes so that local farmers can produce their food instead of relying on assistance. 

“People are hungry and they have received all that was meant for them and what we want are hoes and seeds so that farmers can produce a variety of food items and feed themselves through organic farm produce,” Lemi said.

Emmanuel Abut, another IDP, originally from Bereka boma, also appreciated the humanitarian assistance but urged the government to restore peace and stability so that the people can embark on socio-economic empowerment and development.

“As people of Lainya, what we want is peace, stable security, and free movement of civilians so that we can return to our farms and do business activities and we demand the government to restore peace for the ordinary people to concentrate on farming for development,” Abut said.

The SSPDF and NAS, who both have a presence in Lainya County, have repeatedly clashed in the recent past leading to the displacement of thousands of people.