The Benue State Assets Recovery Committee has said it has so far recovered 48 vehicles illegally taken away by the immediate past administration of Governor Samuel Ortom and some of his officials.
The Informant247 had earlier reported that Governor Hyacinth Alia, when he assumed duty, constituted the committee on June 16, to recover vehicles and landed property that were illegally sold or removed away from government premises by government officials.
Chairman of the Committee, Hinga Biem, while speaking with newsmen in Makurdi at the weekend, stated that the committee had sent notices of demand to 36 other office holders of the past administration to return government’s property in their possession.
He said, “So far, we recovered 48 vehicles. We have also send demand notices to 36 office holders. We will be announcing their names in due course.”
Biem also disclosed that three of the vehicles recovered are tractors, noting however that five of the vehicles were willingly returned by the public officials in possession of them, adding that the committee had taken possession of 32 vehicles allegedly from “the former governor’s workshop,” adding that only one person had come forward with car papers to claim ownership of his vehicles amongst the ones in the committee’s custody while two others who made telephone calls are yet to show up with documents to ascertain their claims.
The chairman however insisted that the exercise was not a witch hunt as portrayed by those affected, stressing that all utility vehicles in the service were either waived or auctioned by the past administration who took them away.
