Alia hands over relief materials ‘seized from’ Benue lawmaker to EFCC, ICPC

Hyacinth Alia, governor of Benue, has handed over seized relief materials to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Alia asked the anti-graft agencies to investigate the circumstances that led to the discovery of the relief materials in a private residence in Markurdi, the Benue state capital.

The Benue governor also said a three-member committee set up by the state government would collaborate with the agencies for the investigation.

In a statement on Wednesday, Tersoo Kula, the chief press secretary (CPS) to Alia, said the state government discovered that the relief materials were gotten from the warehouse of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Jos.

Kula said the items were meant for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency of the state.

The CPS said the relief materials were diverted to a private residence in Markurdi “under the directive” of Terseer Ugbor, the lawmaker representing Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency.

He said the governor ordered the seizure of the truck conveying the relief materials and directed that it should be taken to the government house.

THE LOBBY

The CPS said the federal lawmaker lobbied for the relief materials to be allocated to the state.

The CPS said in a letter written by NEMA and addressed to Ugbor, the agency said the Benue government would bear the cost of lifting the materials from its office to the point of distribution.

Kula wondered why relief materials meant for people in Kwande and Ushongo were being offloaded at a private residence in Makurdi.

He noted that the items were meant for the victims of communal clashes and farmers/herders crises in Kwande/Ushongo federal constituency in Benue state.

According to the letter written by NEMA, the relief materials include 578 bags of 25 kg parboiled rice, 578 bags of 25 kg garri, 58 cartons of vegetable oil (5 ltrs x 4), 58 cartons of seasoning cubes, 58 cartons of tomato paste (sachet), 578 pieces of foam mattresses, 578 pieces of mosquito nets, and 578 pieces of wax prints (5 yards).