Kwara Rainstorm: State Government Supports Victims With N92.5m Relief Funds

On Wednesday the 20th of January, the Kwara State Government began the disbursement of N92.5m to 2,300 victims of the rainstorm tragedy in Ilorin, the state capital, with victims in each of the three categories getting between N25,000 and N100,000 apiece in preloaded ATM cards.

The chairman of the Implementation Committee on Ilorin Rainstorm Disasters, Hajia Habibat Yusuf, was quoted by the state government saying, “The gesture was in line with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s commitment to cushioning the effects of the disaster on the victims.”

Recall that, in September 2020, CAMPUS REPORTER published a report detailing how heavy rainstorm wreaked havoc in some communities in Kwara State, leading to the collapse of buildings and rooftops and leaving many less-privileged persons homeless.

This paper also reported how the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came to the rescue of the victims by donating several relief materials to the affected victims in consolidation with the state government’s effort to assist the victims.

“This disbursement is about giving succour to the victims of last year’s rainstorm in Ilorin. It is the state government’s way of alleviating their sufferings,” Hajia Yusuf said while addressing newsmen during the flag off of the exercise in Ilorin.

“2300 victims will benefit from the state government’s relief fund to assist the victims. We have three categories and depending on each category, each victim will receive N25,000, N50,000 and N100,000, depending on the extent of the damage. So, we are starting the disbursement today with those collecting N25,000,” she added.

“There was an initial rainstorm committee which did the evaluation of the damage. The committee visited all the victims and submitted their report to the government. It is their recommendations that we were tasked to implement after further due process was conducted to ensure transparency.”

Hajia Yusuf explained that preloaded ATM cards were being presented to each beneficiary in which they could make an instant withdrawal from any ATM point.