Revolt in Kogi flood refugee camp Our Reporter November 3, 2012 12 Comments » From EMMANUEL ADEYEMI Lokoja Hundreds of flood victims in Lokoja, the Kogi State
capital yesterday stormed the streets, accusing the
state government of abandoning them for over one
week in spite of huge funds and materials collected
on their behalf. The protesters some of who wore
gloomy faces with some in tattered dresses while a number of them were seen clutching their babies
alleged that government officials have diverted
some of the food items meant for them into private
use. One of the protesters, a middle aged woman who
identified herself as Hassan Mohammed strapping a
six month old baby to her back and holding three
other of her children narrated in tears their trauma
at the camp sites. “ Na one loaf of bread dem dey
serve a family of about six every morning while in some cases dem go give us a satchet of indomie. Na
so so big money we dey hear say they donate but
nothing dey come to us, we are dying”, she
narrated in pidgin English. The federal government
had in the wake of the flood disaster made some
donations to all the states affected with Kogi State receiving over N500 million. The Dangote foundation also donated over N430
million including truck loads of rice while Jide
Omokore, a business mogul also donated N50
million and a former governorship aspirant
donating N10 million with truck loads of other relief
materials. This is aside other numerous donations from corporate bodies, individuals and
international donors But the protesters alleged
poor handling of the relief materials and the
diversion of the funds meant for them The victims
who are from St. Luke Primary School Adankolo
camp came out as early as 8.00 am chanting war songs with variuos anti government placards The
Spokesman of the Flood Victims, Aaron Haruna
alleged that the Camp leader in connivance with
other government officials diverted materials
donated by the public spirited individuals and
corporate bodies leaving them hungry He also alleged that for the past one week they
have been sleeping with empty stomachs ,
stressing that all the bedding materials donated
have not been distributed to them. They also stated
that the state government should give them the
money donated to enable them to relocate to another place , stressing that they were tired of
staying in the camp. “Food items, cooking utensils,
stoves, mattresses even drugs have been diverted
as soon as they were brought in to the camp “The
other day soldiers brought 40 bags of rice to be
shared to us but some government officials stole them and up till now we have not seen the trace of
the rice again”,he stressed. As part of efforts to
ensure that the protest was not hijacked by the
hoodlums, the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr.
Zannah Ibrahim and other police officers led the
protesters to Government House. While persuading the victims to be peaceful, the state police
Commissioner, Alhaji Mohammed Musa Kastina stated that the
protesters should conduct themselves in a manner
which will not degenerate into breach of peace in
the state. Katsina appealed to the protesters to be
calm and cooperate with the state government over
the issue, stating that the government was working round the clock to ensure that the victims get what
belong to them. In his reaction the Deputy
Governor, Yomi Awoniyi stated that it was not true that the
flood victims have been abandoned saying
government was trying its best He explained that
the state government was not in haste to share
money realized from the flood disaster saying that
the state government has already set up a committee to go round all the affected nine local
government areas of the state to assess the extent
of damages on the property of the affected victims.
Awoniyi stressed that the protest was as a result of
misinformation and rumour going round the town
The Deputy governor also told newsmen that most of the victims have been selling the food items
given to them in the markets, arguing that it was
unfair for them to accuse the camp officers of not
giving them food again.
Source: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/revolt-in-kogi-flood-refugee-camp/