Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The Edo State government said it has rendered financial assistance to 724 indigent persons in the state through its Mercy Committee initiative in less than four years.
Secretary of the committee, Igbogo Ebamiyo Peter, disclosed this while taking stocks of its activities in the past three and half years in Benin.
Peter said immediately after the inauguration of governor Godwin Obaseki second tenure on November 12, 2020, he raised a 5- man-team into a committee he called Mercy Committee which himself (Peter) is privileged to have served as its secretary.
He said the scope of this committee was to oversee request letters of assistance from indigent persons sent to the governor, carry out an assessment on the claims of the letters, interface, interview the claimants, review and make recommendations on such requests which must fall within health challenges, mini-business assistance, education, household economic strengthening and others.
According to the secretary, “today, after almost four years in office, we can empirically state that His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki through Mercy Committee has the following report: That at the end of 2021, His Excellency assisted 235 indigent persons, in 2022, he assisted 151 indigent persons, in 2023, he assisted 196 indigent persons and so far in 2024, he has assisted 142 persons”,
Continuing, “that he budgeted N10 million monthly to assist indigent people in the state, that he increased the monthly expense on these indigents by 100 percent at the beginning of this year.
“That about 624 persons have been assisted so far with well over N400 million”
He pointed out further that 128 persons have been supported in the last three and a half years financially to take care of their various health challenges, 287 mini-businesses, 131in education, 148 in household economic strengthening and others.
He said interestingly, when they interfaced with these persons, their data showed that 42.7 percent of applications received and treated are from Edo South Senatorial District, 28.9 percent from Edo Central Senatorial District while 21percent represented requests from the Edo North Senatorial District.
He also said five percent were received from Edo indigenes in the diaspora and 2.4 percent where from none Edo indigenes within and outside Edo State, age limit not withstanding.