Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia has handed over a truck load of palliatives he confiscated, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), for investigation.
This is contained in a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Sir Tersoo Kula, which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi on Wednesday.
The statement quoted Alia as urging the agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a truck conveying palliatives meant for IDPs in the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency was caught offloading same at a private residence along Kilometre 2 in Makurdi.
NAN further recalls that the governor, upon discovery of the incident, confiscated the truck and moved it to Government House to ascertain why palliatives meant for Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency were being offloaded in a private residence in Makurdi.
According to the statement, checks 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 Mr Terseer Ugbor, the representative of the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency.
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/Ushongo federal constituency were being offloaded at a private residence in Makurdi.
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).
The governor, who spoke to NEMA headquarters upon his return from the United Kingdom, expressed displeasure over the discoveries of some hidden facts regarding the matter.
“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.
NEMA also directed that the materials should be taken to the state by NEMA and handed over to SEMA,” the statement stated.
Alia, who said other trucks conveying other materials such as mattresses were still missing, urged anti-graft agencies to liaise with a three-man committee from the state and conduct a thorough investigation to uncover more facts.
He said 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 SEMA team.
He 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 was followed and that the materials were distributed to the rightful people.
The governor thanked President Bola Tinubu for having Benue people at heart, calling on National Assembly members to consider the conditions of vulnerable people in their state and ensure that they deliver to their constituents whatever the federal government gives.
The statement claimed that NEMA leadership, in a phone conversation with Alia, thanked him for being vigilant and also promised to continue to collaborate with the state government to ensure fair distribution of items from the federal government.(NAN)