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Sunday <strong>04</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556<br />

BDSUNDAY<br />

9<br />

f materials in Edo<br />

NewsFeature<br />

Solomon Folorusho, coordinator of<br />

Ohogua IDPs camp<br />

Dan Orbih. Edo state<br />

chairman of PDP<br />

Ogbomerhe in Edo Central and<br />

Edo North fall into? Also, when<br />

the state government discovered<br />

that the rice and vegetable<br />

oil were bad or expired, did it<br />

inform the authorities of the<br />

Nigerian Customs Service and<br />

National Logistic Committee? If<br />

all these questions were asked<br />

by the state government, what<br />

were the responses?<br />

It should be noted that during<br />

the distribution of the relief materials<br />

by Edo State government<br />

on December 24, 2017, credit<br />

was never given to the Federal<br />

Government as the donor of the<br />

relief items. The news story<br />

written by Crusoe Osagie on<br />

the distribution was captioned<br />

‘Yuletide: Edo Government Celebrates<br />

with IDPs, Orphans,<br />

donates food items, footwear’.<br />

The story said the Edo State<br />

government had donated food<br />

items and footwear worth millions<br />

of naira to IIDPs in Ohogua,<br />

Ovia North-East LGA of the state<br />

as well as food items to selected<br />

orphanages across Benin metropolis.<br />

It quoted Yakubu Gowon,<br />

special adviser to the governor<br />

on special duties, who presented<br />

the items to the IDPs<br />

in their camp, as saying, “The<br />

donation is to show the state<br />

governor’s love for his people<br />

and that he is committed to<br />

making them happy. This is to<br />

show that Edo government<br />

loves every citizen, irrespective<br />

of their social status. We<br />

know this is the season to show<br />

love. The governor says if he<br />

eats a spoonful of rice, people<br />

in the camp should eat two. And<br />

if he wears shoes, people here<br />

should also do same.”<br />

It also quoted Magdalene<br />

Ohenhen, commissioner for<br />

women affairs and social development,<br />

to have said the state<br />

government was committed to<br />

taking care of the IDPs, assuring<br />

that the donation of relief materials<br />

by the Edo State government<br />

would be done on a continuous<br />

basis.<br />

We were shortchanged – IDPs<br />

When contacted, the coordinator<br />

of Christian International<br />

Christian Centres for Mission,<br />

operator of the IDPs camp, declined<br />

comments. But a reliable<br />

source close to the camp, who<br />

also raised eyebrows on the<br />

alleged diversion of the relief<br />

materials, noted that they were<br />

deprived of what the Federal<br />

Government gave them.<br />

The source, who pleaded anonymity,<br />

said security operatives,<br />

civil defence among others witnessed<br />

the donation of the relief<br />

materials to the camp.<br />

“Security operatives were at<br />

the camp to witness the distribution<br />

of the items to the IDP camp.<br />

Even when government officials<br />

were we trying to use EBS crew<br />

to suppress information, the<br />

security agencies told them<br />

that they should ensure that the<br />

media captured all the activities<br />

for public consumption. That<br />

almost caused problem between<br />

the security officials and those of<br />

government. The disagreement<br />

almost resulted to a brawl but<br />

the quick intervention of some<br />

persons saved the situation. It<br />

was very terrible.<br />

“Even in denying the alleged<br />

diversion of the relief materials,<br />

the government shot itself in the<br />

foot. They were written a letter<br />

since November, you were told<br />

to carry something straight to<br />

IDPs, you took these things and<br />

never told the IDPs and kept<br />

them from November till on<br />

February 8, <strong>2018</strong> when the giver<br />

now said they are coming to<br />

hand over. That is when you now<br />

rushed down 2,101 bags.<br />

“Also, you said you judiciously<br />

shared it with orphanages in Edo<br />

State. Was it meant for orphanages<br />

in Edo State or the IDPs?<br />

They have shot themselves. And<br />

they equally said the rest got bad.<br />

If they got bad, did you inform the<br />

Nigerian Customs Service that<br />

the rice they gave you got bad?<br />

So these are the questions.<br />

“In an online news medium, it<br />

was quoted that an anonymous<br />

government official has told<br />

them that they shared it for APC<br />

politicians and even the one they<br />

said they gave us was the one<br />

kept for the next election,” said<br />

the source.<br />

It was also said that since Governor<br />

Obaseki came into office<br />

as governor of the state, the<br />

authorities of the IDPs camp<br />

have written several letters to<br />

him highlighting their needs but<br />

he had never replied them.<br />

Another source, who also<br />

spoke on the rice issue, said in<br />

spite of the shortfall in the distribution<br />

of the relief materials to<br />

the IDPs, the items were yet to<br />

get to them.<br />

“As I speak to you now, we<br />

are yet to officially take over the<br />

bags of rice. They (government<br />

officials) came on February 8,<br />

<strong>2018</strong> in the night and dumped<br />

the bags of rice in our warehouse<br />

without properly handling them<br />

over to us. That is the reason we<br />

have not touched it because we<br />

have not been asked to.<br />

“We do not want to be dragged<br />

into the controversy, but all we<br />

are saying is that they should<br />

give us what was approved for<br />

us without playing politics with<br />

it. If our pastor was to be around,<br />

maybe he would have allowed<br />

you to see the items. About 100<br />

bags of rice have already gone<br />

bad and they separated them<br />

from the good ones which they<br />

kept inside the store while the<br />

bad ones are kept outside.<br />

“From the documents we received<br />

from the Nigerian Customs<br />

Service, a total of 6,822<br />

bags of rice were approved for<br />

us at the camp but they have only<br />

brought 2,101 and because they<br />

have not officially handed us the<br />

material, we cannot ask about<br />

the whereabouts of the over<br />

4,000 bags remaining.<br />

“Again, the documents clearly<br />

stated that there are other items<br />

such as 76 cartons of vegetable<br />

oil, 100 sacks of used shoes and<br />

another 20 sacks of used shoes.<br />

We cannot really say much about<br />

the issue because we are afraid<br />

to be caught in crossfire because<br />

we need the goodwill of all for<br />

the camp to survive. The children<br />

are much and we usually<br />

cook between eight and 10 bags<br />

of rice for a meal for the over<br />

1,500 inmates. So, we need the<br />

government to survive. The Edo<br />

State government has been very<br />

helpful and it is our hope to keep<br />

the good and cordial relationship<br />

going,” the source said.<br />

Customs reacts<br />

When contacted, Joseph Attah,<br />

image maker of NCS, said<br />

Governor Obaseki formally<br />

informed and appreciated the<br />

Comptroller-General of Customs<br />

of the receipt of the items<br />

and the subsequent distribution.<br />

Attah also added that following<br />

the complaints of shortchanging<br />

the IDPs camp of the<br />

items, the National Logistics<br />

Committee has concluded plans<br />

to send another batch of items<br />

to the camp and that the items<br />

would be sent to the camp soon.<br />

On the alleged spoilt rice and<br />

expired vegetable oil, Attah<br />

said the National Agency for<br />

Food and Drug Administration<br />

and Control (NAFDAC) was<br />

a member of the National Logistics<br />

Committee (NLC) that<br />

was saddled with the responsibility<br />

of distributing relief<br />

materials to IDPs in the North-<br />

East and had the responsibility<br />

to ascertain the suitability of<br />

products for consumption,<br />

adding that there was no way<br />

the agency could allow the allocation<br />

of spoilt and expired<br />

rice and vegetable oil.<br />

He explained that the state<br />

government transported the<br />

materials to the state and stored<br />

them in its warehouse, saying he<br />

could not say whether the materials<br />

got spoilt in the warehouse<br />

or not. He queried why the state<br />

government would accept the<br />

materials in the first place if they<br />

had got spoilt before they were<br />

transported to the state.<br />

Following, the weight of the<br />

PDP’s allegations, Edo State<br />

government mandated the commissioner,<br />

Edo State police command,<br />

Johnson Babatunde Kokumo,<br />

to investigate the alleged<br />

diversion of rice.<br />

It was, however, learnt that if<br />

the police were thorough and<br />

not biased in their investigation,<br />

some senior government<br />

officials may be indicted as they<br />

were involved in the distribution<br />

of rice to political allies and<br />

cronies during the last yuletide.<br />

Meanwhile, analysts are patiently<br />

waiting to see how the<br />

raging verbal war between PDP<br />

and APC-led government over<br />

alleged diversion of relief materials<br />

meant for IDPs will end.

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