By joshua 
…to train 1,500 vigilante personnel
FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
In response to the removal of fuel subsidy and the untold hardship it has caused the populace, Edo State Government Wednesday, announced the payment of N20,000 monthly social intervention fund to the poorest of the poor in the state which it said consist of 314,000 Households.
It also said over 1,500 vigilante are being trained with a view to making the state one of the safest in the country.
Furthermore, the state government condemned the actions of the state deputy governor, Mr Philip Shaibu by taking Governor Godwin Obaseki to court, saying it is not only condemnable, but unaccepted.
The State Commissioner for Information and Communication Strategy, Mr. Chris Nehikhare, disclosed these to newsmen in Benin City as the major decisions of the Executive Council (Exco) on Wednesday.
Nehikhare who was flanked by the Special Adviser to Obaseki of Media Project, Crusoe Osagie; and the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Solomon Imohiose, explained that the households were persons considered to living below acceptable poverty line.
According to him, the database for the persons concerned were gotten between 2019 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, and was sponsored by the World Bank in conjunction with the Edo State Government.
Nehikhare who recalled that during the protest against fuel subsidy removal which necessitated hike in prices of goods and services by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Edo State chapter, noted that Governor Godwin Obaseki promised to spend the sum of N500 million to cushion the effects every month from the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“So at Exco today, government agreed that N20,000 be given to 314,000 households beginning from next month as social intervention,” he said
He however said before the commencement of the payment, there would be a revalidation of the database of those vulnerable persons to ascertain those who are still alive and those that have died.
The Special Adviser to Obaseki on Media Project, Crusoe Osagie, who spoke on the training of 1,500 vigilante personnel, said all those being trained have their biometrics already captured, noting that the state needed to be secured, due to its peculiar nature as the gateway to all the geopolitical zones in the country.
He said, with their training, the vigilante personnel will be more effective in line with the security architecture of the state to complement the regular police force to ensure a minimized crime environment in the state.
Also on the state deputy governor, Nehikhare described the actions of Shaibu as a breach of trust and the oath he swore, adding “there are consequences for such actions.”