Relief Diversion: RSG To Prosecute Offenders

The Rivers State Government has threatened to prosecute anyone caught in the act of diverting relief materials meant for flood victims in the state.

The Deputy Governor and Chairman of the State Flood Relief Committee, Engr Tele Ikuru who handed down the warning in a press briefing  in his office on Wednesday, warned community leaders in the affected communities of partisanship in the distribution of relief materials.

Engr Ikuru said that the committee is making concerted efforts to ensure security for the campers across the four local government areas to forestall any breach of the law.

He said that a visit to some of the camps has afforded the committee the opportunity to come to terms with some challenges, which according to him, include indiscipline among inmates, unco-operative attitude of some of the victims as well as the overwhelming number of people going into the camps but noted that more relief materials are being distributed to the various camps to address shortages and accommodate the increasing number of persons affected.

Meanwhile, the Rivers State Flood Relief Committee, says it is not aware of any camps established by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the state.

Chairman of the committee, Engr Tele Ikuru told newsmen that the agency only donated 500 mattresses and 200 bags of assorted food items which are not enough considering the level of devastation in the state.

“Besides, we have been told that NEMA claimed  to have set up camps in the state. While we do not intend to join issues with NEMA, we make bold to say that all the existing camps in the state are the ones set up by the state government through this committee. To the best of our knowledge, nobody or organisation has set up any camp anywhere in the state”, he said.

He, however, said that from  reports the committee is getting, there is more to be done, pointing out that the committee needs more relief materials as the water is yet to dry up, while there are more predictions that the experience of the last few weeks are not yet over as water levels are expected to rise in the impacted areas.