The Federal and Benue State governments have distributed a truckload of disputed relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, and vulnerable persons in Kwande and Ushongo Local Government Areas, LGAs, of the state.
The intervention which was from the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and facilitated by the lawmaker representing Kwande/Ushongo Federel Constituency, Mr. Terseer Ugbor had been impounded by the state government on the ground that it was being offloaded in a private residence in Makurdi.
The lawmaker who facilitated the release of the items from NEMA had claimed that they were brought to Makurdi pending a suitable date for the distribution to beneficiaries.
Governor Hyacinth Alia midweek released the materials to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, for onward distribution to the intended beneficiaries.
The relief materials which were distributed Friday had in attendance to witness and supervise the exercise the Acting Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Sir James Iorpuu, the representative of NEMA, Eugene Nyelong, representatives of Mr. Ugbor led by Francis Ajai, officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, EFCC, and traditional rulers from the communities.
Speaking during the distribution, the SEMA Acting Executive Secretary lauded the Federal Government for providing the intervention for persons of concern in Kwande and Ushongo LGAs.
He also thanked the lawmaker on behalf of the Benue State government for lobbying for the materials for his constituents pointing out that due process should always be followed in such matters to avoid the controversies that came up prior to the distribution of the materials.
The representative of NEMA thanked the Benue State Government for ensuring fair and transparent distribution of the materials.
According to the sharing formula provided by the lawmaker, the IDPs and vulnerable persons in Kwande LGA got 60 percent of the materials while 40 percent went to the Ushongo LGA beneficiaries.
The items distributed included bales of wrappers, mosquito nets, mattresses,
bags of rice, garri, seasoning cubes, groundnut oil and sachet tomatoes.
