How SkyeBank Embarrassed Rivers Pilgrims

The hassles encountered by the 2012 contingent of Christian pilgrims to Israel have been blamed on the greed and failure of the management of SkyeBank to remit the Personal Travelling Allowances paid to the bank by the Rivers State Government to the Nigerian Pilgrims Welfare Commission for the pilgrims before embarking on their journeys.

The Tide gathered that the delay by SkyeBank to remit the money as at when due caused serious embarrassment to the Rivers State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, as the pilgrims protested the non-payment of the Personal Travelling Allowance (PTA) during their scheduled trips to Israel for the Holy journey.

The Tide investigations revealed that it took the intervention of the Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon.Chibuike Amaechi to get the management of SkyeBank to remit the PTA to the Nigerian Pilgrims Welfare Commission in Abuja which only this week authorised the release of the payment to pilgrims who have since returned from the pilgrimage.

Sources at the Rivers State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board alleged that the bank may have lodged the PTA in a fixed deposit account to yield profit for officials, a strategy that ruffled the 2012 edition of the annual religious exercise, and brought the board and pilgrims in a collision course.

The Tide also gathered that the Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Christian Pilgrims, who could not contain the protests by pilgrims in Israel, had to address the agitated pilgrims in Jerusalem, amid boos, agitations and grumblings.

Some of the pilgrims who spoke with The Tide lamented their ordeals at the Holy Land, stating that they were handicapped because they were virtually without cash throughout the trip.

They told The Tide that they did not make any extra budgetary provisions for the trip because they expected to be given the approved PTA before departure at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa or on arrival at the Tel Aviv International Airport, Israel, regretting that it was only at the Port Harcourt Airport when tempers had started boiling over that they were told at the boarding lounge that they would not get the PTA until they returned.

The pilgrims alleged that the board deliberately wanted to hoard the information to starve them of money to buy some significant souvenirs from the Holy Land and to take care of their needs, adding that nothing stopped the authorities from furnishing the pilgrims with available details to prepare their minds for the trip, even before it was embarked in the first place.

But when The Tide visited the office of the Rivers State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, yesterday, crowd of people were seen scrambling to receive their travelling allowances.

One of the pilgrims, who spoke with The Tide on condition of anonymity, claimed that they were paid $750 instead of $1000 allegedly approved for them by the Rivers State Government.

However, Sole Administrator of the Rivers State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Rev. Msgr John Wangbu, in an interview yesterday dispelled the allegation, stating that the $750 paid to the pilgrims was in line with the Federal Government’s standards and not the decision of the board, and blamed SkyeBank for the delay in paying the PTA to pilgrims.

A top officer of the board, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also attributed the complaints by some pilgrims over the delay in releasing the travelling stipend to greed.

He noted that, “most of the people making the complaints are those who place more value on the travelling allowance while undermining the essence of the trip to the Holy Land, which is to draw close to God through prayers.”

According to him, most of the pilgrims constitute nuisance in the Holy Land, and often refused to come out of their hotel rooms to participate in prayers and other related activities.

When The Tide visited the zonal office of the SkyeBank located at Olu Obasanjo Road, Port Harcourt, to get the reaction of the management, the visibly shaken staff said the zonal and area managers were not on seat to comment on the issue.

Taneh Beemeneh

Rivers State Sports Commissioner, Hon Fred Igwe (right), with President, National School Sports Festival, Malam Ibrahim Mohammed, during the unveiling of Mascot for the 5th National Schools Sports Festival (Rivers 2013) in Port Harcourt, yesterday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga