The Director of a popular online medium ABN TV, Ifeanyi Okali has called on proprietors of non-governmental organizations, particularly those whose mandates are centered on charity to rise up now that Nigerians are facing the impact of lockdown, a measure put in place by government to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

Mr. Okali also wondered why little has been heard of numerous NGOs in Nigeria, particularly Abia even as many families are subjected to hardship as a result of the restriction of movement.

In a chat with our correspondent in Umuahia on Monday, he said proprietors of non-governmental organizations, including those operated by politicians must not wait till electioneering year to come out from their hiding.

“It is surprising that at a time when many families in Abia in particular are groaning under the weight of hunger and starvation, those who masquerade as agents of charity have gone on the hide.

“I think this is unfair and unacceptable. If you look around you, you see people who cannot afford their daily bread, a situation that has been worsened by the impact of COVID-19. We have a thousand and one non-governmental organizations and they have not acted to alleviate the sufferings of the people. Are they waiting for 2023 so that they will come and play sycophancy?” he querried.

Mr. Okali also used the opportunity to announce free announcement slots and media coverage for any NGO that will come up with palliatives that will benefit the poor and vulnerable this season and beyond.

While reiterating his commitment to enhancing the lives of rural communities, he maintained that ABN TV will continually champion campaign that will promote development in the grassroot in line with the mandate of the organization.

Coalition for South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) on Monday called on federal government to use the phone number-linked BVN of persons receiving alerts on Covid-19 to transfer money to Nigerians.

The group said the alerts sent to the phones of Nigerians from Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has conveyed enough on coronavirus hence what people need now is money to soften lockdown hardships.

The groups call was contained in a press release signed by its President-General and Secretary-General, Chief Goodluck Ibem and Comrade Kanice Igwe and made available to journalists on Monday.

They commended the NCDC, for sending regular information through SMS to Nigerians which kept reminding them of safety tips to avoid contacting the dreaded coronavirus, COVID – 19.

“These updates from NCDC have greatly assisted most Nigerians to adopt hygienic hand-washing and safety practices, to stay at home and stay safe from being infected. We commend them for a job well done.

“But presently, the most dangerous pandemic that is staring Nigerians in the face to consume and kill them is hunger.

“Most families are subsistence farmers, artisans and low income traders who only depend on their day-to-day income to feed themselves and families.

“This present lockdown has made it difficult for them to fulfill their obligations of providing food and other necessities to their families and households.

“We have noticed that NCDC got the phone numbers of Nigerians without calling on them to fill any form and that the phones they are sending messages to for weeks now are BVN-linked.

“We therefore,call on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, use the same method to get account numbers or BVN-linked lines of Nigerians to credit their accounts so that they can get food and other necessities .

“That will help them to stay at home and adhere to the instructions from the text messages and to escape hunger which is a worst killer disease than COVID -19”, they said.

COSEYL said it heard how Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs,Disaster Management and Social Development shared billions of naira to Nigerians which real Nigerians who deserve to get the palliative funds have not seen.

The group said that the sharing of palliative funds only on the radio and television was unacceptable, cannot stand and should stop.

They called on the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouk to publish the names of recipients of the alleged funded accounts to clear the doubts of Nigerians.

The NGO said that a situation where some Nigerians received the palliative funds and others in same class did not get any smacks of favoritism and cronyism which is against the provisions of Nigerian constitution.

They urged FG to use the BVN of Nigerians to share the donations and other funds meant as palliatives for the masses because of Covid-19 lockdown imposed hardships.

They called for massive attention to households in the South East because of their very low income levels adding that if government does not want to create another disease through Covid-19, it should act fast now.

Four members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been expelled from the organisation.

Disclosing this in an audio broadcast on Monday, IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu alleged that the expelled IPOB members were involved in fraudulent activities including armed robbery and kidnapping.

He listed the persons involved to include one Onwukwe Nwanze, Chukwunye Matthew, Akuwa and Ojukwu.

“These persons have been expelled from IPOB and anybody dealing with them is doing so at his or her own risk. They are not part of this family anymore,” Kanu said.

According to him, they were involved in fraudulent activities.

“Apart from that, they are informants to Nigeria government. They go about claiming that they are members of Biafra Secret Service media and innocent family members are in police custody because of them.”

He also claimed that there is a new trend of fraud been perpetuated by some people he alleged were security agents.

“They are circulating forms online claiming that they are IPOB when they are not, telling people that they are government when we do not have any government because only the people of Biafra will elect a government.

We don’t have any government yet. This government is online and WhatsApp groups and slot of people in UK are falling victims to these people. They are not IPOB, we are not online, we are not calling for members across the UK.

“If you want to join the IPOB, you are welcome to do so but we are not online. There is no form, there is no registration fee, once you fill such a form, you will be killed before you know it and the people that take your money will not be there when this would happen.”

He added: “I got information that there are one or two persons in Germany calling people back home and telling them to join BSS. I want to warn that these people are going into armed robbery and kidnapping using the name of BSS and Biafra to set up criminal gangs in Biafra land. We will treat such people as criminals if caught.”