David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Beneficiaries of Npower scheme for unemployed graduates in Anambra State have cried out over the non-payment of their stipends for the past three months.
Spokesman of a section of the beneficiaries in the state, Mr Nweke Dennis, said the non-payment of the stipends has subjected them to untold hardship in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Dennis alleged that about 80,000 of the beneficiaries were affected in Anambra State, who he said now roam the streets begging for alms.
His words: “For three months, beginning from March till date, about 80,000 N’power beneficiaries were intentionally omitted for payment. We complained to the authorities but no good answer was given to us except ‘we are working on it’ just to calm us down. And we discovered that some people are being paid elsewhere leaving out others, at this critical moment of economic hardship.”
Dannis, therefore, appealed to the authorities in charge to urgently pay the Npower beneficiaries to prevent hunger from pushing them into crime.