Benue State Governor, Rev Fr 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), charging the two anti-corruption bodies to conduct a thorough investigation over suspicions of diversion.
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Daily Query reports that a few days ago, a truck conveying assorted relief materials meant for IDPs in the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency was seen offloading palliatives at a private residence around Kilometre 2 in Makurdi, the state capital.
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The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Tersoo Kula, in a press conference had told newsmen then that checks by the State government later revealed that 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 Hon. Terseer Ugbor, a member of the House of Representatives for the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency.
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However, Rep. Ugbor had himself explained that the relief materials were offloaded in Makurdi in agreement with NEMA pending a fixed date for distribution at Jato Aka when all logistics and proper planning would have been completed for effective distribution to the targeted beneficiaries.
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Governor Alia, who admitted that he 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.
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He stated that preliminary investigations revealed that 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).
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The Governor, who spoke to NEMA headquarters upon his return from the UK, where he attended Mzough U Tiv in the United Kingdom (MUTUK), expressed displeasure at the discovery of some hidden facts regarding the matter.
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In a letter from NEMA headquarters addressed to the representative of the Kwande/Ushongo constituency, Terseer Ugbor, who actually lobbied for the materials, the agency specified that the state government should pay for the expenses of lifting the materials in Jos, and that the materials should be taken to the state by NEMA and handed over to SEMA.
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Governor Alia, who discovered that some of the trucks conveying other materials such as mattresses were still missing, directed the anti-graft agencies to liaise with a three-man committee from the state and conduct a thorough investigation to uncover more facts.
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He said it was 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.
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Alia called on the Acting Executive Secretary of SEMA, Sir James Iorpuu, officers of the EFCC and a few others to monitor the situation and ensure that due process is followed and that the materials are distributed to the rightful people.
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He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for having Benue people at heart, calling on the National Assembly members to consider the conditions of vulnerable people in their state and ensure that they hand over to their constituents whatever the federal government gives.
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The Director General of NEMA, speaking to Governor Alia through a phone call, thanked him for being vigilant and also promised to continue to collaborate with the state government to ensure fair distribution of any materials coming from the federal government.
