Non-indigenes in Asaba, Okwe and Ibusa communities in Delta state on Friday frowned over discrimination of sharing food items meant to cushion the effect of COVID-19 lockdown.

They said that their greatest challenge and fear has been hunger and not the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

A respondent who spoke to our correspondent in Asaba, Mrs Alice Okowon described the manner the palliative was been shared in the state as an act of wickedness.

She said:

“It is very bad that state government made the lockdown for everybody and they are sharing the food items to their people alone. On Wednesday they brought the items, they said is for the indigene.

“Even though the rice is three cups, a tuber of yam, we should be part. This is our home, like me I was born here, I pay my tax here, I cast my vote, so why discriminating us from the food?

“Again, today (Friday), the Asaba Development Union (ADU) came to share food items, they share only to Asaba indigenes. We went there for them to give us, they refuse, that it only for the indigenes

“We are seriously faced with hunger worse than the coronavirus. We fear hunger and not coronavirus oandemic ravaging the world. We can no longer feed well again and our stores have been locked.

“The palliative measures the state government, Politicians and the union claimed it has been sharing, have not in any way reached us. We are suffering in Delta state, the lockdown in the state is killing us.

“They should not come to us again during election time and go to only the indigene to vote for them”

Another respondent who is an Asaba indigene, Monica Isidi condemned the sharing of the palliative by Asaba Development Union.

She said:

“You need to be alive to contract the virus; you cannot contract the virus in death, both the indigene and non indigenes are battling with hunger.

“It’s terrible that nobody could go out and work, how will they feed and their children? They are hungry and want food to survive and it affect everybody.

“Everybody deserved to survive this trying period in Nigeria irrespective where you come from. As long as you are resident in Asaba, you should be considered for the palliative.

“I am from Asaba and I have been following the distribution of food items by the ADU, the manner of sharing the food is bad and mark with a high level of wickedness.

“Coronavirus or hunger does not know indigene or non indigene, so the distribution should around any vulnerable resident in Asaba.”

They lamented the situation across the state as pathetic, especially the lockdown and dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the state government.