Civil rights group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, accused Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ms. Sadiya Farouq of doctoring statistics of 2022 flood impact.
The group, in a statement by its national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said:
Nothing can be more illogical and puerile than the assertion by Ms. Farouq, seeking to discredit the extensively held and scientifically established perception that Bayelsa State is amongst worst affected states by floods. The rights group accuded her of favouritism by naming Jigawa State to be the number one on the list of affected states and to state without justification that Bayelsa is not even amongst the first 10 worst hit states.
Farouq made the assertion when she appeared at the ministerial media briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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According the group, the sensational claim without any justifiable empirical data was contrary to perception in some quarters that Bayelsa State still reeling under flood, is not among the 10 most affected states in the country, has been described as ‘irredeemably rigged’, ‘manipulated’ and skewed by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management to ensure that federally redistributed relief materials and assistance from international and local donors are diverted to the Northern State of Jigawa State.
The group charged:
The conclusion reached by the minister with specific reference to scoring Jigawa State first was done just to curry favours and to be able to win more relief materials for her people rather than to rely on science and deliver appropriate relief materials to appropriate places.
