Benue state Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called on the Benue state government to, as a matter of urgency, establish refugee camps for the displaced persons in the ongoing incessant attacks on Tiv communities in the state.
In a statement issued yesterday by its chairman, Mr. Kris Atsaka, the union lamented the situation where “there are droves of displaced persons who are fleeing their homes that has become troubled areas with children and women trekking long distances to safety.”
The statement, which acknowledged the initial efforts by both the state and federal governments led by Governor Gabriel Suswam and President Goodluck Jonathan, respectively, in ending the crisis by deploying more mobile policemen and the DIG Operation to the state, further called on government at all levels to redouble efforts in ending the crisis.
Those displaced are always seen trekking long distances on roads with heavy luggage on their heads, while malnourished children and the elderly wander about the streets of Makurdi and the suburbs with some even taking refuge on pavements.
The union is equally worried by “the situation in Daudu, a town close to Makurdi, the state capital, where hundreds of internally displaced persons have flooded Agan, a suburb of Makurdi, while others are found in North Bank, the Makurdi-Lafia Road axis, wandering about helplessly.”
