From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Protests broke out at Prof. Dora Akunyili Women’s Development Centre, Awka, Anambra State, on Sunday, where hundreds of women were gathered for the federal government’s N20,000 cash grant to rural women.
The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development had invited the women from across the 21 Local Government Areas of the state for the flag off of the distribution of the grant.
It was gathered that about 2,800 women were supposed to benefit from the grant.
The enraged women told Daily Sun that they resorted to protests to register their anger over the lopsided distribution from one of the federal government officials who they said favoured his kinsmen from a community in the state.
The protesters alleged that apart from the favoured community, the rest were told to go and return on Monday to receive their own, a development which didn’t go down well with them.
One of the angry women, Mrs Ifeoma Ojikpe, who came from Isuofia community in Aguata LGA narrated thus:
“Why we are protesting was that they seized the money Buhari gave us to share. One of them, a man, who came with them from Abuja decided to share the money to his Achalla kinsmen instead of using the list from Abuja.
“All the people whose names were called so far were all from Achalla. There was no other town in Anambra that was called. If the number called so far before we started protesting were 100, all the 100 were all from Achalla.
“Even at that, two persons from one family were given money. Out of anger, we started protesting. It was not supposed to be like that. It was supposed to be one person per family.
“You can’t take two persons because there are others that need the money too. He was calling only his kinsmen. That was why we started protesting. No other person from any other community was given money.
“We came here by 10am. And these kinsmen of his that he was distributing the money to came late. They were standing outside since but immediately it was time to start distributing the money, he gave them a sign and they all came in.
“Immediately they entered, he started with them. We came here earlier and from very far places. How are we going to go back and by what time? We were all supposed to get N20,000 each.”
Efforts to get words from the officials from Abuja proved abortive as they declined to talk to the reporter. In fact, security operatives on the stage ordered him out of the hall.
