News
‘Humanitarian crisis overwhelms Benue’
By Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi
The Benue State government on Wednesday took the incessant cases of marauding herdsmen’s attacks on communities to the international community seeking their help to end the carnage and provide relief support for the people affected.
Head of humanitarian agency and Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Emmanuel Shior, said the appeal became necessary because of the huge task resting on the shoulders of the state government on how to manage the crisis.
In a chat with reporters on the humanitarian challenges posed as a result of yesterday’s killing of seven IDPs at the Abagena Camp, Shior also lamented inadequacy of policemen in some of the camps. He appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to deploy more policemen to the state to assist in securing the people living in the eight designated IDP camps.
Shior expressed his fears of a possible attack on other IDP camps by the assailants. He appealed to people of the state to join hands with Governor Samuel Ortom to ameliorate the plight of the displaced persons.
Read Also: 7 killed in Benue IDP camp
He said the government has received reports of a similar attack at Mbagwen Camp in Guma Local Government Area. He added that officials of the agency have been deployed to the area to profile the IDPs to enable the government to extend intervention support to them.
In a related development, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr Titus Uba has condemned the attack on Abagena Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Makurdi by suspected bandits.
In a statement signed by the Press Secretary to the Speaker, Mr Wuese Orshi, in Makurdi yesterday, described the attack as uncivilised and barbaric.
The Speaker said he was horrified by the senseless attack on people who were already evicted from their villages.
He said no sane leader would sit and watch his people being lynched daily in cold blood.
He promised to continue to support any lawful move by Governor Samuel Ortom toward ending the senseless killing of innocent Benue farmers.
Uba also called on the Federal Government to step up the protection of innocent people by ensuring that perpetrators of such attacks on the IDPs were arrested and punished.
