…Tickles Other Vulnerable Persons Also
BEVERLY HILLS, CA, June 18, (THEWILL) – The Borno State chapter of the Police Officers Wives Association (POWA) has reached out to the widows and orphans of slain policemen in the state.
At a ceremony which held Wednesday at the Police Headquarters in Maiduguri , the state capital, to mark the 50th anniversary of the association, POWA distributed relief materials to the widows and orphans of policemen who were killed during the Boko Haram insurgency
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The association also reached out to other vulnerable persons during a visit to the VVF wards of the State Specialists Hospital and Motherless Babies Home where toiletries and other relief materials were donated.
The state Commissioner of Police, Lawal Tanko, while speaking at the occasion, assured the widows and orphans of the slain officers of continued support and encouragement.
Materials donated to about 264 beneficiaries at the ceremony included 30 grinding machines, 40 sewing machines , many bags of rice and other materials .
Tanko, who assured the beneficiaries that though their loved ones are no longer with them, the state Police Command will continue to stand by them, stressed that POWA will always receive support from the command to extend to the widows and orphans.
Also speaking at the occasion, the wife of the Police Commissioner and chairperson of the state chapter of POWA, Hajiya Rahinatu Tanko, explained that the ceremony had been organised in order to mark the golden jubilee of POWA.
Maintaining that the week-long activities were to compliment “our husbands’ efforts in boosting security consciousness,” Hajiya Tanko said “This programme, today, is to enhance the production and as well pave the way to boost the respect for the rights of widows and orphans of policemen and others who are experiencing stigmatisation and neglect.”
She noted that “In the North-eastern States, especially Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, security challenges are seriously affecting our husbands in the discharge of their assigned roles. Those who lost their lives left behind women and children with little or no means to keep life going. Today, such women are ejected from their official accommodation, children sent out of schools due to inability to pay school fees and sometimes rejected by the families of the deceased.
“I always think how are they getting on with life in the midst of current hardship. I believe it is in line with this that the National chairperson of POWA has rolled out a lot of programmes aimed at alleviating the suffering of our widows and orphans. Part of this programme is what we are witnessing here today.”
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