Nasarawa gives N1m cheque each to widows of slain policemen

The victims’ families asked for prompt release of their entitlements by the police.

The Nasarawa State Government on Monday issued cheques of N1 million each to the widows of policemen killed at Alakyo, Lafia Local Government Area by the Ombatse militia group.

Presenting the cheques to the widows at the State Police Command in Lafia, Governor Umaru Al-Makura commiserated with them over the loss.

He said the money was only meant to help augment the burial rites of their late husbands.

Mr. Al-Makura, represented by Zainab Abdulmumin, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), urged the women to take the demise of their spouses in good fate and take solace in God.

He said the government was doing its best to ensure that the perpetrators of the “heinous ” crime were brought to justice.

The widows of late Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Momoh; and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Aliyu Zing, received N3 million and N1.5 million respectively.

Mr. Momoh led the operation during which over 40 police officers were killed.

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in Zone 4, Michael Zuokumor, announced that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had approved N1 million each for families of the dead officers.

He said the approval was given while the Group Life Insurance packages of the officers were being worked out.

Mr. Zuokumor appealed to the women to be strong for their children, adding that no amount of grieving and sorrowing would bring their husbands back.

“I am assuring you all that God will take over your welfare. The ultimate price your husbands have paid for the country will never go unrewarded,” Zuokumor added.

He reiterated the commitment of the police high command to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of welfare at the Force Headquarters, Abiodun Ige, said she was in the state to facilitate the disbursement of the immediate police intervention to them.

She said the money being disbursed to them was for their children and cautioned them against diverting it to other uses.

Ms. Ige, while praying God to grant the women the fortitude to bear the losses, said “human beings have limitation but only God can provide the succour you need now”.

She appealed to the women not to take laws into their hands by continuously blocking the Akwanga-Lafia Road.

She urged them to channel their grievances and demands through appropriate authority for further action.

The widows, clad in their late husbands’ uniforms, held green leaves while wailing.

Mary Levis, on behalf of the widows, appealed to the Federal Government to offer scholarship to the children of the late policemen up to tertiary level.

She also appealed to the government to consider pension benefits for the dead officers who were yet to attain pensionable age in service, given the circumstance of their death.

Similarly, a sibling of one of the late officers, Mathew Onoja, appealed to the police to simplify the process of payment of the officers’ entitlements.

“We are begging the police authority not to subject the widows and children of the late policemen to untold hardship in pursuing the payment of their entitlements.

“Most of them will not be able to withstand a rigorous process,” he said.

(NAN)