FLOODS: Delta victims protest non-payment of compensation, barricade Government House
Delta State floods victims Thursday barricaded the State Government House, Asaba, in protest of alleged non-payment of their compensation to enable them return to their homes.
In what the returnees called “government’s fraudulent and corrupt way”, they insisted the manner compensation funds were disbursed to victims left a sour taste in the mouths of many of them.
The protest is coming less than 24 hours after the state commissioner for information, Charles Aniagwu made clarification on the yardstick adopted in shutting down the eleven Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps.
The protesters numbering over 100 from various communities of Isoko South Local Government Area of the state on besieged the Government House, condemned the alleged fraudulent manner government officials carried out the payment of compensation to flood victims last week at Oleh.
The victims who issued a 14 day ultimatum to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to effect their compensation payment, warned that failure to adhere to the ultimatum, they shall mobilise en-masse and relocation permanently to Government House.
Displaying placards of different inscriptions, they accused one Moses, an aide to the Isoko South council chairman of conniving with the camp commandant of the Isoko Central School, (ICS) IDPs camp.
They also accused other government officials especially the State Orientation Bureau to short-change other flood victims who camped at the IDPs camp during payment of compensation.
One of the protesting victims, who simply identified himself as Ewoma, alleged that several millions of naira have found their way into private pockets from the funds released for flood victims.
“Even the St Michaels College IDPs camp Oleh was full of discrimination and was used as a conduit pipe to loot government treasury.
“One Prosper, an aide to the governor on DESOPADEC was acting like demi-god at the camp, ejecting, rejecting and treating victims with disdain, while accepting only victims from his Igbide and Uzere communities.
“We were not taken good care off and when the government officials came to Oleh to pay victims compensation of N50, 000 and N100, 000 each as the case may be.
“But to our surprise, people that were been paid were strangers with strange faces, their family members, girl friends who were never seen any day at the ICS camp.
“In every 20 names that they called, only two or three that will come out among the real flood victims while the rest coming to be paid were never known to us or even seen in the camp.
“The payment the government officials came for was just a mere jamboree and to amass illicit wealth to our own detriment.
“The fraud and corruption that took place at the ICS IDPs camp was enormous. Those government officials only came to pay themselves not flood victims with what happened last week at the ICS IDPs camp, Oleh.”
The victims, had on Monday staged a mass protest to the Isoko South Secretariat, Oleh to register their grievances over the compensation.
Addressing the protesting flood victims at the Government House entrance gate, the Chief Economic Adviser to the state governor, Kingsley Emu, appealed to the victims to remain calm and promised to take their matter to the governor.
He appealed to them to return to their various communities pending when they will get feedback from the governor who he said was out of the state.
