Invaded Kogi Community Seeks NEMA, SEMA Assistance

A community leader, Chief Thomas Acheneje has called on the National Emergency management Agency (NEMA) and Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), to assist displaced persons of Agojeju-Odo community in Omala local government area where 28 persons were killed with relief materials to enable them settle down at their ancestral home.

Acheneje made the call while speaking with journalists after meeting with top officials of the ministry of environment on Thursday in Lokoja.

Acheneje said since the day of the deadly attack on the community, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), have been encountering untold hardships due to lack of food, drinking water and conducive places to stay.

“Our people are living in terrible conditions. This is why as a community leader I am pleading with NEMA and SEMA to consider it necessary and expedient to take some relief materials to them.

“Most of these IDPs are taking refuge in primary schools, mosques and churches with little or nothing to cater for themselves.

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The painful thing is that the bandits stole food stuffs including Maize, Yams, Cassava and Beans, ” he said.

The community leader expressed worry over the likely disease outbreak in some of the crowded IDP camps and the houses of relatives and friends they are camping with.

He added: “as members of the affected community, we have been trying our best to assist our people, but the situation has overwhelmed us”.

Acheneje commended Gov. Usman Ododo’s proclamation on Wednesday that some suspected bandits have been arrested.

While calling for more arrests, he also called for the establishment of a military base at Agojeju-Odo, a border community between Benue and Kogi to checkmate the incessant attacks in the area.

While reacting to the call, Kogi State commissioner for environment, Engr. Olusegun Joseph said that the government has planned to send relief materials through SEMA to the affected communities in Omala LGA.