SSG, commissioner escape being lyched as youth empowerment event turns bloody in Delta

Delta State Commissioner for Youth, Oghenekaro Ilolo and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon. Festus Agas, on Saturday escaped death when youths, trained under the state’s Special Youth Intervention Training and Empowerment Programme (SYITEP), engaged the officials of the initiative in fisticuffs over alleged ill-treatment at their passing out ceremony.

Over 200 youths trained under the programme held officials of the Youths Ministry hostage at the warehouse premises of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), the venue of the disbursement of their starter-packs.

Hon. Festus Agas, who represented the Governor, narrowly escaped being lyched by them after presenting starter-packs which were considered inadequate to a lady that had undergone tailoring training.

An aide to the commissioner, whose identity is yet unclear, was, however, unlucky as the youths pounced on him for trying to force the gate of the warehouse open for his boss to escape.

He was beaten to coma and rushed to an undisclosed hospital within Asaba for treatment.

New Telegraph reports that troubled erupted when the youths alleged that the committee saddled with the responsibility of distributing the packs had sabotaged the governor’s gesture by allegedly enriching themselves with the proceeds.

The youths later protested to SSG’s office, accusing the committee, headed by the Commissioner, of failing to pay the trainees their N30,000 three months stipends, and alleged shortchanging each of them their N5,000 transportation fees and for providing them with inadequate starter-packs.

But the SSG earnestly appealed to the youths to give peace a chance and ordered immediate investigation into their complaints.

A trainee in Electrical/ Electronics, Elohor Clever, who spoke on behalf of others lamented that N5,000 was provided as take-off grants as against their counterparts under three cycles of the Skill Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) and Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurship Programme (YAGEP) since 2015.

The Public Relations Officer of the state’s Job Creation Office, Mrs.K. Gertrude, who claimed ignorance, disassociated the Governor’s Office from the crisis.