N-power Applicants Protest Extortion by Government Officials

Unscrupulous government officials have seized the N-Power initiative to extort scarce resources from vulnerable Nigerians. 

 

File Photo

 

Some youth from the 13 Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, enlisted for the N-Power documentation exercise, on Monday protested alleged extortion by organisers of the programme which marred the exercise.

 

The N-Power is a federal government initiative to employ 200,000 unemployed graduates across the country and pay them a stipend of N30,000 monthly.

 

It was gathered that the unemployed youth numbering over 200, who had besieged the venue of the documentation exercise as early as 7 a.m., had earlier yielded to the directive of the organisers to go to Number 29, Gunning road, Abakaliki, and pay the sum of N500 to enable them be documented.

 

However, trouble started when the organisers directed them at about 2:30 p.m. to go back to their different local government areas for further directive.

 

The youth, angered by the directive to return back to their council areas after waiting several hours in the scorching sun, trooped to the entrance gate leading to the governor’s office and blocked the entrance.

 

They insisted that either the Commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job Creation, Donatus Njoku, or any other government functionary must address them before they would vacate the entrance.

 

After several hours of waiting at the entrance gate of the governor’s office without any government functionary addressing them, the protesters went back to Number 29, Gunning road where most of them had paid the N500. They insisted on getting their money back.

 

Some of the youth who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on condition of anonymity expressed regret over the procedure and the slow pace of the exercise. They wondered why the organisers would insist that they must pay N500 before they would be attended to.