Join our WhatsApp channel HERE for the latest Benue news and updates!
Makurdi is buzzing with anger and suspicion tonight after social media commentator Asom Jerry dropped a bombshell allegation: several truckloads of rice meant for internally displaced persons in Benue State were allegedly moved from the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) warehouse to a private facility belonging to prominent politician and businessman, Chief David Amo.
According to Jerry’s widely shared post, four trucks loaded with bags of rice were quietly transferred over the weekend to a warehouse located at Km 5 Gboko Road, directly opposite the brewery in Makurdi. He specifically accused Sir James Anodoakaa Iorpuu of orchestrating the movement and warned that any further attempt to remove the items would face stiff resistance now that the matter is public.
“These palliatives are for suffering IDPs scattered across camps in agony,” Jerry wrote. “Relevant authorities have been notified. Nobody should try to move even one bag again.”
As of Wednesday evening, neither SEMA’s Executive Secretary, Sir James Anodoakaa Iorpuu, nor Chief David Amo has issued any official response to the claims. Phone lines to both men have reportedly been switched off or remained unanswered when journalists tried to reach them for comment.
The allegation comes at a particularly sensitive time. Thousands of families displaced by years of herder-farmer clashes and flooding are still crammed into camps across Benue, many surviving on irregular and often inadequate food rations. Any suggestion that relief materials meant for them are being diverted for private or political gain is guaranteed to provoke outrage.
Social media is already on fire, with #BenueIDPRice and #WhereIsTheRice trending locally. Many users are demanding an immediate independent audit of SEMA warehouses and calling on Governor Hyacinth Alia to personally intervene before the situation escalates.
Whether these allegations will be proven true or swiftly debunked remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: trust in the handling of relief materials, already fragile, has taken another serious hit.
The people of Benue, especially the displaced, deserve transparency, accountability, and their rice. Anything less is unacceptable.
