Imo Rep Ugochinyere Exceeds N50m Target For Victims Of Ideato Killings

The lawmaker representing Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, announced on Thursday that his ‘Ideato Support Fund’ for victims of recent armed attacks in his constituency has surpassed its N50m target.

Charles Okafor, Media Director of the Grassroot Development Forum (GDF), disclosed in a statement that the fund, launched to support families who lost loved ones to gunmen, had “achieved and exceeded” its target.

He said the money would be used to provide welfare, educational and business support to victims’ families, and to strengthen vigilante groups in affected communities.

Okafor said preparations were ongoing for the public disbursement of the funds and quoted Ugochinyere as thanking his friends and associates for “answering the humanitarian call” to assist the people of Ideato in their time of need.

“We hope that the local and state governments will also come to the aid of these communities by not just supporting the victims but empowering community security in all Ideato communities to avert a repeat of such bloody carnage,” the statement read.

The initiative followed a series of reported attacks in Umualaoma, Ndi Ejezie, Ndiakunwata, Akokwa, and other Arondiizuogu communities, where over 26 people were reportedly killed.

The lawmaker had said three weeks after the incident that neither the state nor local governments had provided assistance to the families of the victims.

Ugochinyere had earlier disbursed N5m of his personal funds to assist survivors and bereaved families while calling on the Imo State and Federal Governments to urgently address worsening insecurity in the area.

At a recent news briefing in Owerri, he urged both levels of government to activate and adequately fund local vigilance systems. He lamented that many communities lacked security guards, while those that had them operated with minimal resources, sometimes receiving as little as N50,000 for risking their lives.

“Whether it was caused by separatist groups, kidnappers or organ harvesters, the situation has gotten scary as people no longer go to farms, while many have fled to the cities.

“We need the support of not just the Federal but the State Government because we have revenues that should take care of the security of lives and property of the people in their local domain.

“We want the activation of the local vigilance system funded by Local Governments and supported by the various communities,” he had said.

The lawmaker also faulted the failure of local government chairmen to visit and support victims, despite receiving what he described as “nothing less than a ₦350 million monthly allocation”.