The Benue State Government on Wednesday said plans have been concluded to return 40 Almajiris who defied the inter-state travel ban in place in the country to sneak into Makurdi, the state capital.
This was disclosed by the state’s Deputy Governor, Benson Abounu, who is also the chairman of the COVID-19 Response Team in the state, in Makurdi during an expanded meeting of the committee.
According to Abounu, the Almajiris, mostly teenagers, who were discovered in a one-room apartment in Wadata area of Makurdi, would be sent back to their states of origin on Thursday, April 30 (today)
The deputy governor also disclosed that the state had paid for 100,000 sets of face masks at the cost of N20 million from the Cross Rivers Government.
“The masks will soon be delivered to the Benue government; we paid N20 million to the Cross Rivers government for them. They were produced at a unit cost of N200.”
He further explained that many companies submitted proposals for the procurement of face-masks but had high quotations.
According to him, some indigenous companies in the state were engaged to produce 20,000 additional face masks that will be distributed to the people.
Abounu also stated that the state was yet to record another COVID-19 positive case after the index case. He however said that more samples were being collected.
The deputy governor further revealed that the state has received three trucks of rice and one truck of tomato paste from the Federal Government as palliatives, adding that more palliatives were being expected from the Dangote Group.
Speaking also on measures to combat the spread of the disease in the state, the state Governor, Samuel Ortom announced the release of additional N50 million to the COVID-19 Committee in the state.
Commending the committee for the work already done, Ortom charged them to redouble their efforts to ensure that the state was free from the pandemic.
