The Chairman of Chrome Group of Companies and Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF), Chief Sir Emeka Offor, has called on governments to impose stiffer sanctions on people who exploit vulnerable members of society, particularly widows.
Offor also pledged to support widows who are abused, dispossessed of their property or subjected to any form of oppression, saying he was prepared to pursue such cases through lawful means.
The philanthropist made the pledge on Sunday in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, during the foundation’s quarterly rice distribution exercise for widows in the community.
He said the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation had several support programmes for different groups, but described the quarterly rice distribution to widows as particularly dear to him.
“My foundation, Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, has a lot of support packages for diverse people, but the one that is most dear to me is the quarterly distribution of rice to widows.
“That is why I say people must never joke with widows because if I ever hear that anyone abused or dispossessed them of their belongings, we will fight it.
“We will hire lawyers. Of course, we already have them, and we will use any lawful means to ensure that such acts do not stand,” he said.
Offor said the foundation distributes rice to widows in Oraifite four times a year and had also built houses for some of them.
He added that the foundation would construct an additional 20 bungalows for widows this year.
According to him, because he was unavoidably absent during the second-quarter distribution in May, the foundation would compensate the 3,000 widows registered under the programme by giving each of them two bags of rice during the third-quarter distribution.
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“We are doing this because we want the welfare of vulnerable people, and we call on the Anambra State Government to ensure stiffer sanctions for people who fight the vulnerable, especially widows,” he said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the foundation, Mr Tony Obi, said Offor had remained passionate about improving the welfare of widows in the community and called on beneficiaries to continue to pray for him.
Obi said Offor had told him that since he began the initiative, he had felt more fulfilled and considered supporting widows more meaningful than sponsoring politicians for public office.
Also speaking, the President-General of Ozubulu Community, Hon. Vin Dike, described the foundation as one of the biggest in Nigeria, saying it had carved a niche for itself by focusing on vulnerable members of society, particularly widows.
“Sir Emeka Offor has done a lot in this community, especially in the area of road construction, educational scholarships, building houses for widows, health and medical assistance, and the overall welfare of Oraifite,” he said.
