The Benue State Government has revealed that 107 survivors of the June 13 Yelwata attack by herdsmen, which claimed over 200 lives, were still receiving treatment at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) in Makurdi.
Executive Secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency, James Iorpuu who disclosed this when he received the Director General of SEMA Nasarawa and the SEMA Secretary Plateau States, in Benue lamented that the attack which started since 2011 was increasing daily.
According to him, “The visit of Nasarawa and Plateau SEMA will strengthened our bond and unity especially with my Nasarawa counterpart so that we will strategise on ways to stop the attackers from using Nasarawa to attack Benue communities.”
In their separate remarks, the DG of the agency from Nasarawa, Ben Akwash, and the Executive Secretary from Plateau, Sunday Abdu explained that they were in the state to commiserate with the government and people of the State over the Yelwata massacre and other killings in the State and also to study the secret of success of the humanitarian management of the state.
According to them, “The collaborative efforts of the three states in the humanitarian space would yield positive results to end the killings and destruction of farms by the marauding herders.”
While assured that no matter the amount of aggression on the states, “We will continue to grow in strength as we visit God in prayers, He will secure the lives of the people in the North-Central from further attacks.”
The SEMA officials also they were in Benue State to explore more ideas on responding to humanitarian crises and disaster management to reduce attacks on communities in all states in the North-Central region.
“Our coming here is to also interface, interact and strategise on how we can get ready through awareness creation, sensitisation of communities in the area of the recent flood alert, as you know that Benue is always on the red alert so we need to come together and advance ways to nip it in the bud,” they said.
Earlier, the chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Benue State Council, Comrade Bemdoo Ugber, promised that his members would continue to sensitise communities on the need to move from safer places and engage government and other stakeholders on how they can beef up security at the border areas to end the crisis.
