Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia has handed over a truck of palliatives he confiscated recently in Makurdi to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) for a thorough investigation of suspicions of diversion.
A truck conveying assorted relief materials meant for IDPs in the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency was discovered offloading palliatives at a private residence around Kilometre 2 in Makurdi.
A statement released by the state government says checks later revealed the palliatives, which were loaded from a National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) warehouse in Jos, had found their way to a private residence under the directives of Terseer Ugbor, the representative of the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency.
Governor Alia, who admitted that he was the one who ordered the truck to be impounded at Government House, said he wanted to know why goods released from NEMA for distribution to IDPs in Kwande and Ushongo were being offloaded at a private residence in Makurdi and expressed displeasure with the development.
Investigations revealed the goods were coming from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and were meant to be sponsored by the state government and lifted by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The Government also discovered that the materials were to be distributed directly to the affected persons by officials from the Agency’s North Central Zonal Office in collaboration with the Benue State Emergency Management Agency team.
Governor Alia called on the Acting Executive Secretary of SEMA, James Iorpuu, officers of the EFCC, and others to monitor the situation and ensure that due process was followed and that the materials were distributed to the right people.
Editor Oloyede Oworu
