Full truck of Relief materials sent to IDPs in Taraba declared missing

A full truck of relief materials sent to Taraba state for distribution to the Internal Displaced Persons IDPs by President Muhamadu Buhari have been declared missing by the permanent secretary Taraba state Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The permanent secretary Mr Nuvalga Dan-Habu disclosed this while conducting journalists round the venue where the  relief materials were stored for self keeping in Jalingo Taraba state capital.

The Presidential relief materials sent to Taraba state for IDPs have recently generated controversy and war of wards between the minister for women and social development Sen. Aisha Arhasan and Taraba state government when the permanent secretary refused to release the materials to the minister for distribution.

Aisha was in the state to flag off the distribution of the materials to IDPs while on her five days official visit in the state, the state government refused to release materials to her, she also accused the state government of inflicting unnecessary hardship on the IDPs by holding on the materials.

Nuvalga stated that few weeks ago he received a phone call from the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA North East zonal office Gombe, he was informed that twenty (20) trucks of relieve materials (Maize) were been sent by President Muhamadu Buhari for IDPs in Taraba state and the materials were on the way from Abuja to Taraba state.

He said the NEMA zonal office directed that the Taraba state Emergency Agency should take the stock of the materials for self keeping for letter distribution to the IDPs. Nuvalga further disclosed that a truck of the relieve materials loaded six hundred (600) bags of Maize in each.

He stated that instead of the twenty trucks as directed and informed by the Gombe zonal office of NEMA, only nineteen (19) trucks of the materials arrived Jalingo.

He said when the nineteen trucks arrived Jalingo he called the zonal office and informed them of the details of the stuck the Agency received in Jalingo.

While stating up till the time of briefing journalist the remaining truck was yet to arrived. “Instead of receiving 12,000 bags of Maize as we were informed by NEMA, only 11,400 reached us, a truck loaded 600 bags and it was only 19 trucks that reached to us although I informed NEMA promptly on the development”

When asked why the State refused to release the materials to the minister for distribution, the permanent secretary said Sen. Aisha did not follow the Normal procedures on how to get the materials been released to her for distribution to the IDPs.

“When I was contacted that materials were on the way, I briefed my boss who is the governor of Taraba state, who am answerable to, when the minister came into the state she called me, directing me to release the materials to her for onward distribution to IDPs then I told her that NEMA did not direct me to handover the materials to her and she should contact my boss to smoothen the process but she refused”