The Imo State Amnesty Committee has distributed materials to residents of oil producing communities in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area, following militant attacks.
The residents had fled their villages in the heat of the attacks.
The materials included cartons of noodles, tubers of yam, bags of rice and beans, bottled drinks, foams and blankets.
The committee also kick-started free medical service to address the health challenges of the returnees.
Militants operating in the riverine areas recently renounced militancy and other forms of criminality and surrendered their arms to the government.
This prompted the residents, who had fled their homes for fear of being killed, to return.
The beneficiary communities are: Awara, Ochia, Assah, Obille, Obittii, Ikwerede, among others.
The committee’s Chairman and wife of the governor, Mrs Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha said the programme was aimed at alleviating the suffering of the hitherto displaced persons and to address their health challenges.
She called for enduring peace in the area to engender development.
Mts Okorocha said: “As the biggest local government area in the state, this area cannot achieve its development unless the people come together to champion the course of peace.”
An indigene and Vice Chairman of the Amnesty Committee, Kingsely Uju, described the materials and the free medical service “as the beginning of peace in the area”.