Adedokun Waliyu 
The taskforce set up by Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike to alleviate the suffering of people in areas affected by the ongoing flood disaster at the weekend confirmed that the governor has released the N1bn he promised impacted residents.
The Chairman of the taskforce, Dr. George Nwaeke, assured at the weekend that the supply of relief materials and evacuation of trapped victims would continue in line with the mandate the committee received from the governor.
Speaking after delivering relief materials to victims Ahoada East and Ahoada West, Nwaeke said Wike was committed to cushioning the effects of the disaster on residents.
He said the committee was also working to forestall future occurrences with a robust post flood programme.
He said: “We are here to hand over additional food materials to the people of Ahoada East and West councils.
“You will recall that this week, and also the previous week, we were here with some trucks of food items for the local government areas. Today we are here again to hand out additional materials to the IDPs.
“I want to thank God for the Governor who has made a continuous provision for the people of these areas that are currently displaced.
“In addition to what we have here, we are handing over this cash to the council chairmen for the logistics to take these items and distribute them to the various IDP camps.
“And we have also promised that we will come again. I want to assure the public that we will continue to do this. The governor has marched words with actions, the funds have been released.
“We are doing our best and we will continue to do our best to ensure that the people in this area do not feel the full impact of this natural disaster.”
The council chairmen of Ahoada East and West, Ben Eke and Hope Ikiriko, commended the governor for remaining consistent to his promise from the first day he inaugurated the committee.
They acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to prove that the money had been released and vowed to personally supervise the distribution of the relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in their domains.
