“Return Displaced Natives First” — Group Tackles FG Over Benue Security, Inaccurate Casualty Figures
By: Odeh Favour
A strident call has gone to the federal government to speedily initiate the process of returning Internally Displaced Persons to their fathers’ land.
The call was made by the Ebenezer Christian Relief Initiative group, which urged that IDPs be returned to their ancestral homes.
Addressing journalists in Makurdi on Thursday, the leader of the group, Akpen Leva, also called for the protection of human lives, property, farmlands, and community rights.
Leva lamented that the persistent insecurity in Benue State has caused enormous and unquantifiable suffering.
He said, “Several families have lost loved ones and farmlands and sources of livelihood, while numerous residents have been displaced from their ancestral communities and are living in deplorable conditions.”
The group, however, rejected the proposed pilot ranching in the state but rather called on the federal government to work toward the return of Internally Displaced Persons to their ancestral homes.
While stating that the state doesn’t have land for pilot ranching in the state, Leva stated that Benue State has an existing legal framework prohibiting open grazing and providing regulated livestock management.
He further said, “Any initiative introduced by the federal government must respect the state laws, the rightful landowners, the interest of the farming communities and the security concerns of the people.”
He insisted that ranching and other livestock management policies should not be imposed on the people without adequate and genuine consultation with the state government, traditional rulers, community leaders, farmers and other relevant stakeholders.
The group rather called for the protection of human lives, property, farmlands, and community rights as they noted that the ECRI was not opposed to lawful livestock development.
It also expressed deep concern about reported discrepancies between casualty figures released by security agencies and accounts provided by eyewitnesses and affected communities, following attacks in Benue and called for accurate and transparent reporting, which he described as essential to public confidence, accountability and justice.
Leva appealed for unity of all stakeholders, including traditional rulers, security agencies, community leaders and the church, to fight the invaders who have the agenda to occupy their lands.
“We are appealing to the federal government to prioritise the protection of lives and property, support for resettlement of IDPs and ensure that policies affecting Benue State are developed through lawful and inclusive consultation.”
