One week after the Yelwata attack, Internally Displaced Persons at the International Market, yesterday, took to the street in protest against hunger and starvation, 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu left Benue State.
Our correspondent gathered from some of the protesting IDPs who were in their numbers that the government should beef up security at the Nasarawa border, where the attackers are coming to attack them, to enable them to go back to their farms and fend for themselves rather than to stay in the camp in hunger.
However, in a swift reaction, the chief administration officer of SEMA, Dr Donald Komgbenda, described the protest as sponsored. When we came to this camp, the number of people we brought to the camp was about 190, or about 101 households.
He said, “We could accommodate them for the night they came. So, Tuesday, when the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, visited the camp, he pledged to give the community NN10 million, and another Senator gave N2 million.
“It was yesterday (Wednesday) that a member of the House of Representatives came and redeemed the pledge. And in our meeting, they directed that the Yelewata community be given N6 million. At the same time, the camp management and partners should use the balance of N6 million to respond to certain things.”
It would be recalled that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, on the eve of President Bola Tinubu‘s visit, flagged off the distribution of food and non-food materials to the IDPs through the Zonal Director of the National Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Aliu Waziri.
The SGF said, “I strongly condemned this genocide against the people of Yelewata community, i believe in the sanctity of life even as he warn that I know it is painful, but be it as it may, no matter how sore we feel about this killings we should toll the line of peace because at the end of the tunnel there will be light.”
According to the Zonal Director, “We are here to give food and non-food materials to the over 3000 Displaced Persons of the Yelewata attacks, interact with the IDPs, and profile them to know their immediate needs.
However, it seems that the food and non-food items brought to the State by NEMA could not reach the over 3000 Displaced Persons at the camp.
It was also reported that Dr. James Iorpuu, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Human and Disaster Management and executive secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), had evacuated IDPs affected by the attack to a designated temporary camp located at the International Market Makurdi on Saturday, June 14th.
The protesters who blocked all the primary entrances leading to the temporary camp located at George Akume Way, Makurdi, to register their grievances and maltreatments since their arrival at the camp said they would leave.
The IDPs accused State government officials of diverting relief materials donated by public-spirited individuals and humanitarian organisations, a development they said had caused them untold hardship.
One of the IDPs who identified himself as Mlumun Akuse from Yelewata community lamented that they have lost three people in the camp as a result of starvation and the bad condition of the environment.
“Imagine if people came to the camp and donated food items and other relief materials to us (IDPs), and once those items were handed over to the officials, they would not reach us.
“Just a few days ago, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, came to the camp and donated some items for onward distribution to IDPs. Until now, we have not seen anything.
“The Senior Pastor of Dunamis International Gospel Centre, Dr. Paul Enenche came here and donated materials for our consumption, yet nothing gets to us. We are starving and dying here. We want to go back to our homes.
“We are here because of the attack, and if the attackers have gone and security is beefed up, we prefer to return to our ancestral homes. We can‘t mourn in hunger because this will make us face another critical hunger challenge.
“There is no food, no water, our children are starving, we sleep on the floor, and mosquitoes are almost killing us. We are suffering, and people are dying. Officials overseeing camp management were hoarding and diverting donated materials.“
Another IDP, Terdoo Chia, also said that she was six months pregnant before arriving at the camp and found it difficult to access medical facilities.
“Government brought us here and abandoned us. No food, no medical care, hunger is telling us, we are starving and our children are getting sick day by day“. We embarked upon this protest to draw the attention of the government and public-spirited individuals to our plight“, she stated.
She appealed to the state government and relevant humanitarian agencies to investigate the alleged misconduct and ensure transparency in the aid distribution for the displaced persons.
Dr Komgbenda, on behalf of SEMA, continued, “In the morning, some of the people who came out were anxious because they wanted to be part of the sharing. They were the ones who instigated the people to protest.
“They only used and relied on the lack of food as cover to stage the protest because we are now distributing food to them. When they came, we wanted to profile them before sharing food. If we do not do that, we might at the end of the day give the food to people who are not supposed to be beneficiaries“
“We were trying to profile them and allocate rooms to them before we knew our household number, after which we started sharing food that would reach everybody. However, while waiting for the data to be fully collated, we distributed food in the block daily.
“The first two days that we came, we cooked for them, but because we felt that we could not continue to cook for them every day, given that the crowd of the first two days was about 190, and suddenly it became about 3,541, so we decided to give them raw food.
“We are profiling them, and you know that if you have a situation like this, it takes a few days before things settle down and get organised.
The fact is that they are anxious because they feel that somebody wants to shortchange them.
How do you share the money? Only when you profile them will you be able to identify the beneficiaries and share the funds accordingly.
I told them yesterday (Wednesday) that we have your figure. Many people have yet to register. We will not start giving the money because the International Organisation on Migration, IOM, is helping us profile them. So they are acting out of anxiety.
“But we have calmed the situation down and addressed all their challenges. They will get their N6 million, which is intact.“
Recalled that the Tiv paramount ruler, Prof. James Ayatse, during the visit of President Tinubu, accused some politicians of politicising the killings in the State to ensure that a State of emergency should be declared in Benue State
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