14th April, 2020
By Jethro Ibileke
Wife of Edo State Governor, Mrs Betsy Obaseki, has warned those saddled with the distribution of relief materials as part of the measures to mitigate the hardship caused by the coronavirus lockdown, against diverting such materials.
She gave the warning on Monday in Benin, at the flag-off of the distribution of the materials to the vulnerable and less-privileged in the state.
Mrs Obaseki’s warning is coming on the heels of alleged hijacking and diversion of truck-load of some donated items by a top government official.
She urged representatives of the various groups to resist the temptation of being greedy and diverting the items for personal use or giving them to those who can afford it.
She also charged “those who can afford to feed during this lockdown should emulate government gesture and lend a helping hand to the vulnerable around them.”
The Edo First Lady explained that “the effect of hunger will be worse than that of coronavirus in the state and the nation at large if people continue to carry on without looking out for one another.”
She applauded the government and health workers who are working assiduously to make things easier for the people of Edo State.
Items distributed include bags of rice, bags of beans, garri, yam, noodles, oil, millet, seasonings, soaps and detergent.
On her part, the State Commissioner for Social Development and Gender, Maria Edekor Esq., explained that those who constitute the most vulnerable in the society to whom the government has chosen to dole out relief to at this stage of the pandemic are the elderly, returnees, people living with disabilities, prison inmates, children in correctional centres, rehabilitation centres and orphanage homes.
The relief items were distributed to the State Command of Nigeria Correctional Service and various rehabilitation centres in the state.