Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has disclosed his readiness to provide palliatives to cushion the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the people.
He made the announcement on Thursday in Ibusa, one day after massive protests rocked the state.
Hundreds of women and youths in Sapele on Wednesday, protested over the extension of the lockdown without food and other relief items.
Okowa said he would set up committees comprising local government chairmen, the clergy, opinion leaders, women and youth representatives, to ensure that the palliatives got to the right people.
The governor said that the bulk of the food items, including rice and beans, which would be distributed in a few days, were procured by the state government and that the rest came from donors.
Okowa noted that more food items were needed to enable the government to cover all parts of the state.
“We have food stocked in our warehouses in Ibusa, Asaba and Warri and these are the three spots from which we will commence distribution to our various wards and villages.
“We have beans for distribution; we also have rice, noodles and some other food items for distribution and we have constituted committees comprising every local government chairmen, members of the House of Assembly and religious leaders.
“The committees have been put in place at the local government and at the ward levels, and we have emphasised that there will be no politics in the distribution of these items. It is for every Deltan and non-Deltan living in the state.
“We also appeal to privileged citizens in our various communities to support the effort of the government,” he said.
The governor, however, added that the fourth confirmed case of COVID-19 in was being treated at one of the isolation centres in Asaba, adding that the patients currently on treatment at the centres in the state were doing well.
