By CHARLES IWUOHA

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru has disbursed N200,000 each as financial assistance to about 800 indigenes of Ebonyi State who were evacuated back to Ebonyi State from the Ilaje Otumara village demolition exercise by the Lagos State Government.

The victims mostly women and children who were repatriated back about four weeks ago by the State Government now share tale of relief from the benevolence of the State Government.

Some of the victims who expressed sadness over the destruction of their properties noted that they were still asleep at about 4am when the Lagos State Government came in with their equipments and started demolishing their homes.

One of them, Mrs. Charity Okeosisi, while narrating her ordeal stated that they while they were busy bringing out some of their properties from the house, area boys that accompanied the team were busy looting their properties.

She described their experience as painful and agonizing adding that many of them lost all they had laboured for in life and said that they have been forced to start life all over again on arrival to Ebonyi State.

Mrs. Okeosisi who expressed a sigh of relief following the disbursement of the funds by the State Governor noted that weeks after the Ebonyi State Government evacuated them back to Ebonyi State, they has been living from hand to mouth as there are nothing left for them to feed.

Another beneficiary, Mrs. Martina Ofoke, expresses satisfaction that the Ebonyi State Governor heard their cry and promptly intervened on their behalf pointing out that the financial assistance of the State Government will go a long way in helping them put food on their table.

Some other affected victims while commending the gesture of the state government assistance also expressed the optimism that the state will also empower them to start up something in the State as they have no other place to go.

They maintained that a good number of other indigenes of other states are still stranded in Lagos adding that abandoning them to their faith might result to increased crime rate in the area.

Shortly after handing over the checks to the victims, the State Commissioner for Special Duties and Focal Person, Ebonyi State Diaspora Office, Mr. Valentine Okike-Uzo, noted that this is one of the measures the state government deployed to cushion the hardship faced by the victims repatriated back to the state.

Okike-Uzo assured that the about 800 victims who were properly documented will all receive the N200,000 naira financial assistance of the State Government and urged them to utilize it well in meaningful venture.

He assured the victims that the State Government would also come up with more intervention programs that will help in resettling them and urged them to remain good citizens of the state while they reside in their different localities.

The commissioner took turns to hand over the cheque to the victims.