1,000 displaced Benue pupils receive educational boost from OPay, C-CARE.

From Dooshima Terkura, Makurdi

OPay Digital Services Limited, in partnership with the Comfort Centre for Child Advocacy, Response and Empowerment (C-CARE), has donated educational materials to 1,000 internally displaced children at the Benue State Mega Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Makurdi.
The initiative, tagged “The Education Support Project,” provided school bags, exercise books, writing materials, water bottles, shoes and educational games to children in the camp as part of efforts to improve access to education despite the challenges of displacement.
Speaking during the distribution, the Executive Officer of C-CARE, Barr. Olarewaju Ihechi, described the intervention as a significant step toward ensuring that children affected by the humanitarian crisis do not lose access to education.
She appreciated OPay for funding the project and actively participating in the exercise, saying, “Our desire is to ensure that children in this camp continue to learn despite the crisis they have experienced. Education remains key to their future and to the development of Benue State and Nigeria.”
Olarewaju explained that, in collaboration with the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), the organisation profiled children in the camp before the exercise.
According to her, the profiling identified 1,000 children to ensure that every registered child in the camp benefited from the educational support.
She added that the organisation hopes to extend similar interventions to other IDP camps across Benue State as resources become available.
Also speaking, the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of OPay Digital Services Limited, Mr. Itoro Udo, said the intervention reflects the company’s commitment to supporting education and vulnerable communities in Benue.
He noted that the IDP camp project is OPay’s third major educational intervention in the state, following scholarship programmes at Benue State University and Benue State Polytechnic.
Udo commended the people of Benue for embracing the company’s initiatives and expressed optimism that more corporate social responsibility projects would be implemented across the state.
In his remarks, the Headteacher of the Mega IDP Camp School, Mr. James Nyibiam, described the intervention as the first of its kind specifically targeted at schoolchildren in the camp.
While acknowledging previous distributions of food and relief materials by humanitarian organisations, he said educational needs had received little attention until OPay’s intervention.
Nyibiam disclosed that many displaced children had spent years out of school before volunteer teachers established learning activities within the camp.
According to him, although classroom spaces are gradually being provided through support from humanitarian organisations, pupils still lack desks and chairs, forcing many to sit on the floor during lessons.
He appealed to the Benue State Government and other development partners to complement OPay’s intervention by providing classroom furniture and additional learning materials, noting that the exercise books distributed would not be sufficient to meet the needs of pupils across different classes.
Representing BSEMA, Mr. Banki Felix commended OPay and C-CARE for supporting education in the camp, describing the donation as one that would encourage displaced children to focus on their studies.
He said the agency appreciated the partnership and expressed hope that similar interventions would be extended to other camps housing internally displaced persons across the state.
Also present at the event, the Unit Head, Out-of-School Children, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ruth Ningir, said the intervention was carried out in collaboration with the Benue State Government.
She explained that the ministry approved and monitored the exercise as part of its mandate to protect the welfare and educational rights of vulnerable children, adding that reports of the intervention would be submitted to the ministry.
Speaking on behalf of beneficiary families, Mr. Barnabas Benjamin, whose two children benefited from the programme, thanked OPay for easing the financial burden on displaced parents.
He appealed to the company and other partners to replicate the intervention in other IDP camps across Benue, including those in Guma Local Government Area and other communities hosting displaced persons.
The event featured cultural performances by pupils of the Mega IDP Camp School, who entertained guests with Tiv traditional dances in appreciation of the educational support