Gov Alia denies distributing roofing materials to Benue flood victims

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue, has denied directing the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) or any agency of government to distribute roofing materials to flood victims in the State.

This is contained in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Sir Tersoo Kula, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi.

NAN reports that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had accused the governor of distributing just roofing materials to flood victims in the State.

Alia, in the statement, stated that he did not direct any agency in the State to distribute roofing materials to flood victims in the State as reported in the media.

He explained that the ongoing distribution of roofing materials to flood victims in the State was strictly an initiative of private donors and SEMA officials only supervised the exercise.

“Gov Alia did not direct SEMA or any agency of government for that matter to donate any relief materials at this time."

The whole exercise was organised and executed by private support and donor agencies which wanted to bring succour to victims of flooding.

“The exercise was carried out by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), sponsored by the United State Agency for International Development (USAID), to cushion the effect of the 2022 flooding in Makurdi.

“The construction materials in the picture are for construction of bathrooms, toilets, and other makeshift sheds. Each unit in the picture is made up of four to five Zinc Sheets, eight woods and nails for the purpose mentioned,” he said.

The statement insisted that SEMA only played a supervisory role in the distribution of the items, since the intervention was directly under its office.

“We advise the opposition that if it is not satisfied with the intervention, they should channel their desperation to IOM and USAID but not SEMA.

“And what in God’s name does the PDP stand to gain from minimising or criticising the efforts of private donors aimed at bringing relief to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the state, instead of commending and complementing them?” he asked.