Redeem your Pledge, IDPs Tell Dogora

Student-inmates of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Edo state have appealed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara and an unnamed former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, to redeem their individual pledges they made when they visited the camp last year.

They alleged that Mr. Dogara promised to pay the enrollment fees of NECO, WASCE and JAMB for the students, when he visited the IDP camp located in Ohogua, a suburb community of Benin, in 2016, with some other federal and state lawmakers.

They lamented the failure of the Speaker and others to fulfil their promise to them.

“The Speaker came to the camp with some of his colleagues and promised to pay for those taking NECO, WASCE and JAMB exams.

“Our Coordinator have been making all efforts to ensure that we are enrolled, but the money for payment is not there,” they said.

According to them, the whole issue has become complicated with the resumption of schools, as they have to “buy books and other shool materials for the students and the pupils.”

“We are appealing to the Honourable Speaker to please look into our issue so as to save us from the trouble,” they pleaded.

Also lamenting the failure of the unnamed former Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly Speaker, to redeem his pledge, they said: “The Speaker came to the camp and openly promised to assist us with the sum of N500,000, but to our greatest surprise, nothing has happened since last year when he visited.

“How do we live by unfulfilled promises? It is really very sad, we need their support as our fathers and mothers, they are our leaders, we have no other hope than them.”

Also speaking, the Coordinator of the camp, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, who disclosed that the JAMB candidates have gone to the registration centre severally without success, appealed to JAMB authorities to come to the aid of the IDPs who are finding it difficult to transport themselves to the registration centre.

“The students are going to resume schools here but we have challenge of writing materials like notebook, textbook, mathematical set, calculator, pencil and biro among others.

This is even as he lamented the difficulties faced by the students in the ongoing JAMB registration exercise.

“These children are Nigerian s and we have to do everything possible to make sure they are educated, though it is difficult for us.

“The State government has handed over blocks of classrooms it built to us and Nigerian s have been very generous to us in ensuring that the children to actualise their dreams,” he said.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 65 IDPS students are to write the JAMB examination, while about 200 will write NECO and WASC this year.

The Coordinator of the camp, Solomon Folorunsho, made this disclosure while speaking to journalists at the camp.

He pleaded with eminent Nigerians who pledged various donations to the inmates to redeem their various pledges to the inmates.

“We need those materials because 65 IDPs students are going to write JAMB while 200 will write NECO and WASC this year. We need to prepare them for the examinations hence we called for financial assistance to see them through the examinations.”