The Nasarawa state governor, Abdullahi Sule, said the State government has received, with a sense of satisfaction, the progress by the Department of State Services (DSS) in the arrest of some officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) involved in selling of palliatives meant for vulnerable Nigerians.
The governor said he has always championed the fear of God Almighty in how officials conduct government affairs under their trust.
Some staff of the agency was alleged to be part of a nationwide syndicate that specialises in diverting relief materials donated by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for distribution to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and victims of flood in the State.
On Tuesday, the Department of State Services confirmed that many of the goods given out by the government as palliatives to suffering Nigerians have already been hijacked by top-ranking government officials in some states of the federation.
The Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya, said in a statement that some unnamed officials of the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) and their accomplices, who were trading in palliative, had since been apprehended and handed over to appropriate authorities for punishment.
The statement indicated that the NASEMA officials and their accomplices were caught in the act at the Modern Market in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, were they were reselling the palliatives to unsuspecting members of the public for their pecuniary interest.
The operation by the DSS followed complaints by some state governments that the palliatives released by the federal government for their respective states had been diverted.
Following the complaints, the DSS said it undertook an investigation and was able to arrest some of the perpetrators of the act and retrieve the stolen items.
“While this operation is ongoing in other states, the Service has, for instance, intercepted a suspected criminal syndicate in Nasarawa State responsible for the diversion and sale of the palliatives meant for the vulnerable in the place.
“Among those suspects are officials of Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) and their accomplices in the markets, notably Modern Market Lafia, where the items were being resold. The suspects have, however, been handed over for appropriate disciplinary measures,” Afunanya said.
But reacting to the arrest in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, comrade Peter Ahemba, the governor, noted that “it is unfortunate that, while the Federal and State Governments are working relentlessly to alleviate the hardship being faced by the victims, some government officials will shamelessly collude with criminal elements and get involved in the diversion and sales of the materials.”
He added that his administration remained consistent since his assumption of office on May 29th, 2019, in the prudent and transparent management of the State’s meager resources, just as accountability in governance has been the watchword of the administration, assuring that he will not condone any act of indiscipline and criminality from any official of the Government.
“As Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum, I am poised to support the DSS in casting its net widely and getting to the root of the activities of this nefarious syndicate so that those found wanting are meant to face the full wrath of the law, no matter how highly placed.
“The Nasarawa State Government is ready to support the DSS and the Judiciary in ensuring that those among our citizens in Nasarawa State who might be found wanting at the end of investigation are punished accordingly, to serve as a deterrent to other criminal-minded public officials”; the governor said.
Meanwhile, in a telephone chat, the Director General of the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency, Zachary Allumaga, distanced himself from the alleged criminal act involving some staff of his agency.
Allumaga said the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, has already ordered the prosecution of those involved in the diversion and sale of the palliatives meant to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal in the state.
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