A Benin-based cleric, Evangelist Prophetess Ann Okodugha, has empowered 200 widows with rice and chicken as part of her annual outreach to support some of Edo State’s most vulnerable households during the festive season.
The gesture, carried out on Friday at the Wealthy Dwelling Place of the Most High, Scout Camp, Benin City, marked the latest phase of a personal humanitarian mission she says has grown from years of quietly helping distressed families into a structured ministry with a clear social mandate.
Speaking during the distribution, Prophetess Okodugha said her compassion for the underprivileged inspired the creation of the ministry and continues to fuel its work with widows, orphans and low-income families.
“It got to a point that whenever I saw anyone in distress, especially housemaids or abandoned children, I stepped in to help,” she said. “Christ later birthed the ministry, but even before then, I shared food with orphans and beggars and visited people in need. During COVID-19 outbreak, I bought food and went to the places where people were staying just to share.”
She recalled that her first major widows’ outreach held four years ago at Ring Road Museum Centre, where 350 widows were fed. Since then, she has supported 250 widows, then 100 last year, before reaching 200 this year. Beyond food items, she said the empowerment also includes clothing, money and ongoing spiritual and emotional support.
“We come here every Friday to pray with widows. At month-end, I gather them for three days. I feed them myself and ensure they return home with a 10kg bag of rice, clothes, and today, chicken,” she said. “Some of them also benefit from tailored interventions like school fees support for their children.”
She expressed gratitude to the Edo State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, led by Dr Bisi Idaomi, for complementing her efforts. The Commissioner, she noted, recently provided a sewing machine for one of the widows and donated funds to support the purchase of extra chickens for the event.
Prophetess Okodugha urged philanthropists and faith-based organisations to collaborate with her ministry to widen the support net for widows, describing them as “the most vulnerable and neglected.”
“If I can find people to join me, I will go to the ends of the earth to search for those who need help,” she said. “Many of these women have children who are out of school simply because their husbands are no more. They need consistent support.”
She also appealed to Governor Monday Okpebholo to strengthen the state’s humanitarian outreach by partnering with credible grassroots actors and guarding against diversion of resources meant for the poor.
“He should stop surrounding himself with sycophants,” she said. “Sometimes, funds meant for widows are diverted, and what gets to them is far less than what the government releases. But if the government collaborates with people like us, everything will be accounted for publicly.”
The annual outreach continues to position Prophetess Okodugha as a growing voice in grassroots humanitarian work in Edo State, especially among widows who depend on the ministry’s regular interventions for both material and emotional relief.
