Bayelsa State government, on Monday, explained that it was not hoarding any palliatives in the state stating that it has distributed all the items it received as donations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the country.
The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Ayibaina Duba, who stated this, said the clarification became necessary to ease the tension arising from attacks on warehouses containing COVID-19 palliatives and other items by hoodlums in some other states.
He said the state has been commendably peaceful but that it was necessary to dispel misinformation from those with motives to ferment trouble.
The Information Commissioner said so far, the state government had distributed food and other items four times to Bayelsans across the eight local government areas as COVID-19 palliatives between April and July this year.
His words: As a government, we commend the youths of Bayelsa for their peaceful disposition and their statesmanship in ensuring that the state is calm and rid of criminality.”
He added that the government will continue to encourage and support the youths of the state to achieve their real potential through entrepreneurship, agriculture and skill acquisition.
Giving a breakdown of the donors, the items received and the distribution to the different local government areas, Duba said the state government purchased and distributed 14,500 cartons of noodles, 14,657 10kg bags of beans and 6,105 10kg bags of garri.
Other donors of food items, soft drinks and water were the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, CA-COVID Foundation, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Foundation, Ecobank, Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company and the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The list also includes 1,800 bags of rice from the Federal Government, 7-Up Bottling Company, International Breweries Limited, Crunchies Fast Food Limited, Mee ‘N’ Kee Global Resources as well as Multi-Pro Limited.
