During the protest, the IDPs lamented what they described as government abandonment and lack of relief materials, especially food
Hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State staged a peaceful protest in Makurdi on Thursday over alleged poor feeding and living conditions.
The protesters, who are currently taking shelter at the Makurdi International Ultra Modern Market, marched through the busy Abu King Shuluwa Road, chanting solidarity songs and demanding urgent intervention.
KoikiMedia recalls that over 200 persons were killed in Yelewata last Friday following a deadly attack by gunmen.
During the protest, the IDPs lamented what they described as government abandonment and lack of relief materials, especially food.
They appealed to both the state and federal governments to either provide adequate assistance or facilitate their return to their ancestral homes.
The demonstrators, who held up traffic for hours, also questioned the disbursement of N12 million in donations reportedly made for their welfare by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, and another serving senator from the state.
One of the protesters, who gave his name as Liambe, said, “They brought us here from our community but left us in hunger. Even the money that was donated to us by Senator Akume, nobody has given us anything. So, we want them to either treat us well or return us back to our community. It is better for us that way.”
Reacting, the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA) claimed the protest was orchestrated by external forces.
Speaking on behalf of the agency, its Administrative Officer, Dr. Donald Komgbenda, said: “It was a sponsored protest. When we came to this camp, the people we brought were about 190, which translates to 101 households.”
He added that accommodation was provided for the IDPs on arrival.
Komgbenda explained that on Tuesday, the SGF pledged N10 million, and another senator donated N2 million.
“On Wednesday, a member of the House of Representatives came and redeemed his pledge. At the meeting we had, it was decided that N6 million be given to the Yelewata community, while the remaining N6 million would be used by camp management and partners to cater to other needs,” he stated.
He claimed that a group who wanted to be included in the sharing of funds incited the protest and masked it as agitation over food.
“We’re currently distributing food. When they arrived, we wanted to profile them before sharing food. If we don’t do that, we may end up giving food to people who aren’t entitled.
“We started allocating rooms and profiling households before distributing food. In the meantime, we’ve been giving out food in blocks daily.
“Initially, we cooked for them for the first two days when they were about 190. But the number suddenly rose to 3,541, so we switched to giving them raw food instead.
“These things take a few days to organise in a situation like this,” he added.
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