Edo Residents Help Selves With Govt Bags Of Rice, CAN Says Cost ₦2b On Day 1 EndBadGovernance Protest ~ OsazuwaAkonedo
Edo Residents Help Selves With Govt Bags Of Rice, CAN Says Cost ₦2b On Day 1 EndBadGovernance Protest ~ OsazuwaAkonedo #APC #CAN #edo #Irekpono #Omoike #Urora https://osazuwaakonedo.news/edo-residents-help-selves-with-govt-bags-of-rice-can-says-cost-%e2%82%a62b-on-day-1-endbadgovernance-protest/02/08/2024 #Issues Published: August 2nd, 2024 Reshared: August 2, 2024 8:26 am Edo State residents at Urora community in the Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Evo State residents at Aurora Community in the Ipobaoka local government area of the state on
00:05Thursday invaded a residential warehouse and commercial truck where bags of rice funded by
00:10Nigeria government were stored, took away the yet-to-be-distributed government palliatives
00:14on day one of the ongoing nationwide NBAC governance in Nigeria protests.
00:19Evo State government in a press statement on Thursday said that the bags of rice taken away
00:24by some residents in the state were meant for selected people he described as vulnerable
00:29in the state and was funded to be distributed through Christian Association of Nigeria
00:34Khan Edo State Chapter.
00:36All Progressive Progress FTC members in the state had accused the state government of holding the
00:41bags of rice given to him by federal government for onward distribution to the Edo people as part
00:47of measures to address the hunger-biting hag on people in the state which is the root cause of
00:51the NBAC governance protests that started across the country on Thursday. Khan in a video press
00:57statement said that the first batch of the bags of rice palliatives started earlier this year in
01:01the month of May with 1 billion Naira funding from the Edo State government and the second
01:06batch of the palliatives were funded with another 1 billion Naira by the state government.
01:11The chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria,
01:14Khan Edo State Chapter, Apostle Irekunwo Omuike said the invaded residents where bags of rice
01:20were looted by hoodlums in Aurora in Ipobaoka local government area of Edo State is owned by
01:26a vendor contracted by the Edo State Khan Implementation Committee for the Christian
01:30Feeding Program. He stated that the Christian Feeding Program which is in its second phase
01:35of distributing relief materials to vulnerable Christian group was funded by the Edo State
01:40government with 2 billion Naira. According to him, there is a very important issue to correct
01:46a wrong notion that is circulating that the rice being distributed by the state government is rice
01:51supplied by the federal government and revived. This is misinformation. It is a very wrong notion
01:57that needs to be corrected. Meanwhile, the state government in a press release signed by the
02:02Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Krisne Hikare said the Edo State government
02:07has received information about the looting of bags of rice from unidentified truck and
02:12private residences in parts of Benin City in the wake of the Enba governance protests.
02:17The videos making the rounds are said to have emanated from the Aurora axis of Ipoba Hill,
02:22Benin City, and government does not have a warehouse in that location.
02:27The government supports the vulnerable with relief materials through religious organizations
02:32particularly the Christian Association of Nigeria, Khan, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria,
02:37and the Edo State Muslims Pilgrim Welfare Board. The state government does not keep any relief
02:43material by itself but reaches out to the people through these channels. We will not put this tactic
02:49past the All Progressives Congress, APC, which is spreading malicious content to scorch political
02:55points. This condemnable action is intended to cause chaos in the state and the APC is discouraged
03:01from such a global practice. The public is enjoined to disregard the malicious message that these
03:07people are trying to send with the video. We want to once again urge protesters not to attack
03:13or destroy the property of others as they go about their demonstration in a peaceful and orderly manner.
03:43Aurora, the high better faith secondary school. It's happening here now. Look at the rushing.
03:48Look at the gathering. This life was meant for the people. The Edo State government is here to share it.
03:54Look at it. Look at it. It's just happening like now. Yeah. Happy life.
04:01Look at it. Look at it. Look at the establishment.
04:32This government is weakening.
04:36Every day.
04:40Look at it.
04:44This is happening in Aurora, the high better faith secondary school.
04:52They came here. They had the truck here.
04:54And the truck was full of Edo State property. Rice. Bag of rice.
04:58Edo State government is here to share this to people.
05:02So people are taking it into their hands.
05:06The people are taking it into their hands. They are sharing rice.
05:10They are taking it into their hands.
05:12Look at them.
05:14Survivor of the fittest.
05:18This is survivor of the fittest. Yes.
05:22Look at it.
05:26Every day.
05:29What people have done is just to make it.
05:31People will not suffer.
05:33Look at it.
05:35Look at people.
05:37It's capital for rice.
05:39It's capital for rice.
05:41Look at it.
05:43What happened this morning?
05:45This rice are being contracted out to logistic company that help to circulate it.
05:55Now, the circulation has been on, even as at yesterday, people received consignment of this rice.
06:03However, just yesterday, when one of the trucks was supplying down from Ekoma, it had an issue of breakdown.
06:12There was a vehicular breakdown on the way.
06:15So as at 8 a.m. this morning, I received the news that over 200 trucks have successfully supplied.
06:23But one of our trucks had a breakdown and they just arrived beneath us at 8 a.m.
06:31as a result of the breakdown on the way, tire issue.
06:35So I gave an instruction to the logistic guy that is supposed to help us supply this rice to Seven Days Adventist,
06:43Latter Day Saints, what do you call it, vulnerable children, I mean orphanage, widow and all.
06:51I told him you cannot be supplying rice during protest.
06:55We are already at risk. We wanted to prevent this.
06:59However, having gotten to this point, find a safe keeping, somewhere to keep it safe,
07:06so that as soon as the protest dies down, everything returns to normal, the supply can continue.
07:13It was an attempt for them to save the rice.
07:17Incidentally, they had to contact one of our rice vendors.
07:21Like Mr. Chairman was saying, we interviewed different local rice vendors from Edo State,
07:27and we sourced this rice from the local market.
07:30So one of the rice vendors who have one of our places, our house, where she usually do the rebargain,
07:37because they have to buy a 50 kg bag from the market and rebargain to our 10 kg.
07:42It's not a secret thing. It's an open stuff that has been ongoing.
07:46Security agents and others are aware.
07:49So I had to call the rice vendor and say, please, this truck just arrived because of a breakdown last night at 8am.
07:57I will not allow them to distribute rice while protest is ongoing.
08:01Please let them keep it at your place.
08:04You usually do rebargain there of the rice you supply to us.
08:08I will be approved as one of our vendors.
08:10Please can they keep it in your place for safekeeping?
08:13As soon as the protest is over, everything returns to normal.
08:17We will now finally circulate it to the different groups that are supposed to receive it.
08:24So it took time for me to convince her and say please.
08:27So in an attempt for us to take that rice for safekeeping, that was when the product was attacked by Kudlons.
08:37So that was exactly what happened this morning.
08:40So where it was is not exactly a government warehouse.
08:44It is the house belonging to one of the suppliers that supplies rice for this distribution.
08:53There is the very important issue to correct a wrong notion that is circulating.
09:00That the rice being distributed by the state government is rice supplied by the federal government and rebarged and is being circulated by the state government.
09:10This is misinformation. It is a very wrong notion and it needs to be corrected.
09:17Much earlier this year, the governor himself met with the Christian Association of Nigeria in this room at the Chancellery Office of the Catholic Church.
09:29He told us that there is a need to reach out to the hungry, the poor, who are bearing the hardship of the economic downturn in the country.
09:46He discussed with us that he wants to reach the poor with food palliatives.
09:53Discussed at length with Christian leaders who were here, including officers of KAN.
09:59And immediately after that meeting, an implementation committee for the FIDI program was set up in this room.
10:06And I'm the chairman of that committee.
10:08That was earlier in March this year.
10:13Immediately after it was set up, the committee went to work and designed a program to reach the poor with food palliatives.
10:24We also had data from the state governments showing the poverty map of the state where the hungry are located.
10:31It was now our responsibility in the church to determine the churches that are located in those communities through whom the poor and hungry can be reached with food palliatives.
10:44And the governor of the states immediately released the first batch of the funding for the program, one billion, to purchase rice to be distributed.
10:58That was done very, very fast.
11:00And in May this year, the food was ready for distribution.
11:04In May this year, we flagged it off in the Baptist Convention ground in Benin City here.
11:1160,000 bags of 10 kg rice was distributed in that first batch.
11:21It was flagged off in Ado South.
11:2327,000 bags were distributed to local government areas through the churches in Ado South.
11:31And in Ado North, we had 18,000 bags.
11:41In Ado Central, we had 50,000 bags.
11:49The total that was distributed in that first batch was 60,000 bags of 10 kg rice.
11:56That was successfully done.
12:01We submitted a report to the government about the success of the program.
12:05In fact, before we submitted that report, the governor had this information.
12:11He had a way of monitoring.
12:13He was satisfied.
12:14And he was ready for the second batch.
12:16He released another batch of 1 billion to repeat the SSI, to replicate it so that it can reach the poor.
12:23And obviously, it's not the churches that got in the first batch that we get in the second batch.
12:30But we replicated exactly the same procedure.
12:34We purchased another consignment, distributed it through the structure of CAN again.
12:40And this is what we have been doing in this month of July.
12:45In the last few days, we have successfully distributed to all the churches in the local government areas.
12:51The churches that did not receive the first batch, but again this time, we were able to reach 56,250.