Earthquake: Clarion call to Nigeria for aids in Turkey and Syria

The Turkish government on Friday solicited humanitarian assistance from its Nigerian counterpart for victims of the recent devastating earthquake in the country.

The Turkish Embassy in a statement said the assistance would cushion the effect of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed over 28,000, devastating some cities of South-eastern Turkey and Syria last Monday.

The  Turkish president, Recep Erdogan declared a national emergency and appealed for international humanitarian support for the victims of the disaster.

The country’s embassy in Nigeria urged all public-spirited individuals in Nigeria to send the items to the victims of the earthquake via Turkish airlines and gave the addresses in Abuja and Lagos where the items could be dropped.

The statement reads, “To the kind attention of volunteers who wish to make in-kind donations to  those affected by the powerful earthquakes in Turkiye. Donations of the following most-needed items will be highly appreciated: Winter clothing for adults and children; winter jacket, overcoat, raincoat, boots, sweater, trousers, gloves neckpiece, neck scarf, beret, cop socks, underwear.

“Other items are  tents, bed mattress (for the tents), blanket, sleeping bag, mummy bag, catalytic stove with tube, heater cylinder, tube vacuum flask, thermos, torch, power bank, and generator.

“Food: (durable food items – canned food) baby food, formula, diapers, nappies, cleaning and hygiene materials, sanitary pads.

“Please place your items in clear bags and provide an itemised list of the contents in the bag.

“The in-kind donations will be sent to Turkiye via Turkish Airlines in a speedy and prioritised manner.

“Donation collection points are Abuja: No. 46, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja, FCT and  Lagos: ARMADA lnternational Limited, 8 Solomon Agbonton Road, (Aerodrome Rood).”

Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, Secretary of JNI while commiserating with the governments and people of Turkey and Syria urged Nigerian Muslims to “generously donate to the victims, either in cash or kind for onward conveyance through their respective embassies.”

The statement reads, “Having followed and closely monitored the devastating earthquake that befell Turkey and Syria, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) under the leadership of His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and the President-General, JNI, commiserates with the governments and people of Turkey and Syria. Indeed the two countries and by extension the world have witnessed a very demoralising happenstance. This could be one of the world’s most terrifying trials that must have occurred in recent history.

“Nevertheless, JNI calls on the international communities to increase rescue support and humanitarian gestures to the affected provinces of the two countries. Likewise, the Nigerian Muslims are implored to donate generously towards ameliorating the sufferings of the Turkish and the Syrian people.”

The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN), has also mourned the tragic loss of lives, identifying with the NSCIA by calling for support and assistance to those affected.

It would be recalled that a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week had torn through Turkey with a ripple effect in neighbouring Syria. Shockwaves were also felt in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, and Lebanon.

The death toll from the devastating earthquakes has been given to surpass 28,000 as at the time of this report. The tremors affected Southern Turkey and Northern Syria and most of the Mediterranean region.

As the rescue efforts continue following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, here is a summary of recent events.

“The death toll from Monday’s earthquake has surpassed 28,000. Turkish vice president said last night the death toll in his country had risen to 24,617. The Agence France-Presse has reported there have been 3,553 deaths in Syria.”

UN emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths said the death toll from the earthquake is likely to “more than double,” adding that he expected tens of thousands more deaths. He visited the Turkish province of Kahramanmaraº on Saturday, describing the earthquake as the “worst event in 100 years in this region.”

Search operations continue, and in Turkey’s southeastern province of Hatay, a Romanian rescue team carried a 35-year-old man named Mustafa down a pile of debris from a building, broadcaster CNN Turk said, about 149 hours after the quake.

A spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said it was time “to put all politics aside” to deliver aid to Syria, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, added that it was “hard to imagine a more complex emergency” in Syria.

The WHO’s Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reportedly visited Aleppo on Saturday.

Turkey’s president, Tayyip Recep Erdogan, has warned that looters will be punished after reports of people taking goods in earthquake-hit areas. Turkish authorities arrested 48 people for looting or trying to defraud victims, state media reported on Saturday.

Turkish police have detained 12 people over collapsed buildings in the southeastern provinces of Gaziantep and Þanlýurfa, including building contractors, following the huge quake that hit Turkey, local media reported on Saturday. Turkish officials issued more than 100 arrest warrants in connection with the poor construction of buildings that collapsed in Monday’s earthquakes in Turkey.

Facing questions over his handling of Turkey’s most devastating earthquake since 1939. President Tayyip Erdogan promised to start rebuilding within weeks, saying hundreds of thousands of buildings were wrecked.

The European Union’s envoy to Syria urged Damascus not to politicise issues of humanitarian aid, rejecting accusations as “unfair” that the bloc had failed to provide sufficient help to Syrians. “It is absolutely unfair to be accused of not providing aid, when actually we have constantly been doing exactly that for over a decade and we are doing so much more even during the earthquake crisis,” Dan Stoenescu said.

A border gate between Turkey and Armenia opened for the first time in 35 years on Saturday to allow aid to reach those affected in southern Turkey.

State-owned Anadolu news agency and a diplomat said Turkish energy company Karadeniz Holding said on Saturday it would send two humanitarian aid ships that can (each) house 1,500 people, to help the relief effort in the southern province of Hatay, Turkey, Reuters reports.

Search-and-rescue efforts are well under way in Turkey after an initially slow response, but there was a little hesitation in northern Syria. Syrians in rebel-controlled areas were kept waiting for help due to political tensions and shattered infrastructure following the earthquake and more than ten years of conflict.

So far, nobody knows how many people are still stuck under the rubble. Ovgun Ahmet Ercan, a Turkish earthquake expert estimated that 180,000 people or more may be trapped under the rubble, nearly all of them dead.

A UN convoy finally gained access to Northern Syria on Thursday morning – a day after what is considered to be the critical 72-hour window for finding survivors. But hopes of a really effective rescue mission were dashed as there was no heavy search-and-rescue equipment provided. Now the survival rate of people trapped under the rubble stands at less than 6 per cent.

To avoid losing more lives and reduce suffering, the international aid response will now be more critical than ever, a researcher has said.  Again, an extremely challenging aid operation has been envisaged. For a start, the weather is not on the responders’ side – both countries are experiencing a harsh wet winter. There are also regional political tensions and millions of refugees in both countries due to the conflict in Syria.

Syria faces a convergence of disasters. Conflict, a cholera outbreak and already dangerously overstretched medical facilities are just some of the issues to deal with.

A crucial UN aid hub for Northern Syria, close to the epicentre of the initial earthquake in Turkey, was affected. This could have worsened the shortages of key supplies needed immediately after the earthquake struck.

One of the most important decisions a government makes in disasters is whether to declare a state of emergency. For humanitarian organisations, this means that they can freely work in the affected areas. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoðan has already declared a three-month state of emergency. As a result, the response in Turkey has received significantly more resources and media attention.

Christian Aid has launched an emergency appeal to help people impacted by the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. The organisation is already working with local partners in Northwest Syria. As the area is being hit by a cold winter front, Christiana Aid is funding winter kits to people seeking shelter. These kits include plastic sheeting, mattresses, blankets, and heating materials.

Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid, said, “The scenes from this disaster are heartbreaking. And even before this devastating earthquake, we knew over four million people needed aid in Northwest Syria alone.

“We are hopeful that the British public will show the same spirit of solidarity and compassion that we saw in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

“Every prayer, every gift, every action brings hope to people hit by disaster. By joining us, you can help people in need rebuild their lives.”

These are the current situations in the two earthquake ravaged countries. International organizations and different governments have risen to the occasion. The call by the Turkish Embassy on Nigerians as a people is specific and unique. There is no gain saying that Nigeria is problems free. We have our peculiar challenges, ranging from politics to economy.

At the same time, we can not shy away from this more pressing issue in Turkey and Syria which bothers around life. So, just like the embassy and all other well wishers have called for support and assistance in these two countries to save lives, well meaning Nigerians should see this as a clarion call for service to humanity as they send relief materials as itemized earlier to the designated two locations in Abuja and Lagos to be lifted by the assigned airlines.