The Ebonyi State government has disbursed N100 million and relief materials to 894 victims of the recent flood disaster in Enohia Itim community, Afikpo Local Government Area of the state.
The flood, which ravaged the community between July and August this year, claimed eight lives and destroyed houses, farmlands, and other property worth millions of naira.
At the official distribution exercise held at the council headquarters on Wednesday, families that lost their loved ones received N1 million each, while victims whose crops were destroyed got N500,000 each.
Others whose houses and property were damaged received N250,000 each.
Each beneficiary also received four bags of rice, two bags of garri, mattresses, and buckets.
Supervising the exercise, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Monitoring, Mrs Ann Aligwe, commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for what she described as a rare demonstration of responsive and people-oriented leadership.
“Our dear Governor is a welfare Governor. He has come to Ebonyi State to take care of the people through his Charter of Needs manifesto.
“That is why you are receiving these items and cash here,” Aligwe said.
The chairman of Afikpo Local Government Area, Chief Timothy Nwachi, also lauded the governor, stressing that successive administrations had ignored flood victims until now.
“We sent a distress call and in less than 32 days, we are receiving this response. It shows we now have a government that listens and responds promptly to people’s needs,” Nwachi said.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke, including Blessing Okoche, who lost her mother and younger sister to the flood, and Mrs Favour Edwin, who lost her 22-year-old son, expressed gratitude to Governor Nwifuru.
They said the gesture would go a long way in easing their pain and rebuilding their lives after the tragedy.
