By Peter Duru, Makurdi
Benue state government, Thursday commenced the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives donated to the state by CACOVID, a private sector initiative, to over 500,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, across the state.
The distribution which was supervised by the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr. Emanuel Shior at the agency’s warehouse in Makurdi comprised 1,200 cartoons of noddles, 400 bags of rice, and hundred of bags of semovita.
Dr. Shior explained that the distribution was the last of what was donated to the state by CACOVID which had earlier been sent to all the Local Governments Areas LGAs of the state said aside from the intervention the state government had earlier sent its own palliatives to the IDPs.
ALSO READ: Despite Covid-19, we’ve been able to avert food crisis – Buhari boasts
He said “we are taking the palliatives to eight official camps to over 500,000 IDPs and we are emptying the warehouses today in the presence of all in keeping with the core value of this administration which is honestly, transparency, probity, and accountability.
“I must also point out that we heard that some of the palliatives we distributed have found their way in the open market. That is unfortunate because they were not meant to be sold but eaten.
We also gathered that in Oju LGA the CACOVID palliatives that were taken to that LGA and kept in the Council Chairman’s official residence was carted away by hoodlums who invaded the place.
ALSO READ: Lady, 24, arraigned for false rape allegations against Twitter Influencer
“We also have the report from the Police in Kano state concerning the palliatives that were intercepted and claimed to come from Benue State. This may be the looted CACOVID palliatives and others from different sources that were reported to have been intercepted by the Police in Kano.
“On behalf of my committee I request the Commissioner of Police in Benue State to investigate the veracity of the claim by the Kano Police and if those CACOVID palliatives are truly from Benue State, they should be returned and handed over to the state government for onward distribution to the Persons of Concern for whom they are meant.”
