US Humanitarian Office Visits Benue Over Displaced Persons

A team from the United States Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, (USBHA) led by senior humanitarian adviser Patrick Robinson is in Benue State on a three-day visit to the six Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the state.

The team will conduct an on-the-spot assessment to enable them assist the state in tackling humanitarian crisis.

Its leader who was in the company of the project management specialist for the United States Agency for International Development, Murphy Apadutun among others during an interface with Governor Hyacinth Alia promised to advocate for more partners to complement their support for the resettlement and rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have suffered untold hardship due to long stay in IDPs camps.

The team also described the humanitarian challenges as worrisome, saying it is the more reason why the organisation has visited the state to see things for itself for necessary action.

He maintained that USBHA had been intervening in the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria since 2016, where the organisation has rendered tremendous assistance to the government of Borno State and currently intervening in humanitarian activities in the Northwest.

While commending governor Alia for the warm reception accorded the delegation the leader of the team assured him that the organisation will do its best to address the challenges confronting the state in the area of humanity.

The team after the courtesy call proceeded to Ichwa, Baka and Uikpam IDPs for on the spot  assessment.

Earlier, the executive secretary, Benue State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA) Sir James Iorpuu assured the IDPs that they would go back to their ancestral homes with the visit of the US humanitarian team.

According to him, “SEMA office has put up a resettlement data plan which is ongoing and at the end of it all, it will be submitted to government for immediate action.”