The documentation which is held at the Prof Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre in Awka, is coordinated by the State Ministry of Women and Social Affairs.
Recall that the State Government, through the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, had on Wednesday, arrested eight suspects for allegedly extorting more than eight hundred thousand naira from women in Awka.
The arrest was part of the state government’s resolve to eradicate crimes and corruption in the state.
When the Women and Social Welfare Commissioner burst the office complex of the Host Communities of Nigeria Anambra State Chapter located opposite government house Awka, it was discovered that the suspects were operating with a new generation of bank staff in opening a current account for the women.
The victims, who were mainly from the rural communities, were mandated to pay the sum of 10,000 thousand naira in cash and purchase the association’s forms with another 10,000 thousand naira making it 20,000 for one individual.
It was also discovered that these suspects had earlier recruited local government coordinators in all the 21 local government areas of the state who they made in charge of the registration done in cash while the bank staff were in charge of opening accounts at the office complex.
While questioning the leader of the association, Mrs Nneka Joy Igboka on why she was extorting innocent people of their hard-earned money, the suspect earlier said she was carrying out the directive of the suspended Humanitarian Minister, Betta Edu.
She however retracted and said it was the minister’s SSA that gave her the go-ahead order to execute the project and at the same time said, that it was the Ministry of Oil and Gas and Industry that directed her to carry out the task.
When asked if the Anambra Commissioner for Oil, Gas, and Industry was aware of the operation, Mrs Igboka stated that she could not inform the commissioner because it was not his business.
During the exercise, the ministry’s staff were able to recover the sum of 146,500 thousand naira, the money made from registration of a local government, some forms which had been filled and others yet to be filled, and a smartphone which was handed over to the police.
Some of the women who spoke to newsmen, Maryann Obikwe from Ọgbaru and Nneka from Oyi all noted that they borrowed the money they used for the registration and account opening, claiming that they were told that the process is to help secure cooking jobs for them in schools under the Federal Government’s School Feeding Programme.
Some others who spoke under anonymity claimed that the suspect and her team promised them that they would be paid as host communities of oil states.
“They told us that we should pay the N20,000 as registration so that we will start receiving money from the Federal Government, as people from oil states.
“They even promised to secure jobs for us.
“We want to appeal that the governor should help us recover our monies. The country is hard and we cannot afford to lose the small monies we are managing in pursuit of a non-existent job or payment.
“Please help us. We know we have messed up by playing into their hands,” the women pleaded.
The eight suspects including the bankers met opening accounts for people at the said office complex and the items recovered, have already been handed over to the State Criminal Investigation Department Awka for further investigation while the matter will be charged to court.
Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Mrs Ify Obinabo has advised people of the state, especially women, not to be gullible to the antics of swindlers in any guise.
She queried how the victims could believe that the Federal Government would be requesting such an amount to give the very poor people in the villages jobs, noting that while it is a fact that the times are hard, people should not make things more difficult by opening themselves to fraud.
Noting that the Chukwuma Soludo administration will not tolerate any form of corruption or extortion of the state citizens, Obinabo explained that the documentation is to identify those swindled so that their monies could be recovered.
“We must all be vigilant to avoid falling into the hands of scammers.
“I also want to assure you that the state government will not relent until all the persons involved are fully refunded. That is the idea behind the documentation,” she concluded.
