Few days after Delta Governor and Vice-Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senator Ifeanyi Okowa gave reasons why his administration reviewed costs of some ongoing projects in the state due to inflation and rising cost of construction materials in the market, lepers, aegies of Persons Afflicted with Leprosy, PAL, in Delta State, on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022 embarked on a peaceful protest, demanding a review of their monthly stipend from N8,000 to N25,000.
The ex-lepers, who besieged Government House gate in their numbers, carried placards with various inscriptions to express their dissatisfaction.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Mr Eruekaye Russia, who led the people, said they were representatives of their colleagues in the colony at tuberculosis and leprosy hospital/settlement in Eku, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state.
Mr. Eruekaye lamented that the present stipend of N8,000 was no longer tenable in an economy of hyperinflation, saying that former Governor James Ibori approved the N8,000 allowance for them during his tenure. Groaning that the N8,000 was reviewed downward to N3,900 by the last administration, the leader of the group said Governor Ifeanyi Okowa raised it to N8,000.
Addressing the demonstrators, the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Community Development, Mrs Flora Alanta, who said the state government was already looking into their plights and assured the protesters of better days ahead and commended them for the peaceful protest.
