‘Temporary IDP camps to become resettlement cities’
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has raised concern over Federal Government’s indifference to the condition of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in Benue State and the consequent humanitarian crisis in the state.
He also condemned the activities of killer herdsmen in the state that led to displacement of the people from their ancestral homes.
Wike, who spoke at the weekend when he visited his Benue counterpart, Samuel Ortom, in Makurdi, said the situation in the state deserved adequate attention from the Federal Government as being done in the North East and other parts of the country.
He said: “Even if the Federal Government does not like the Benue governor, they should support him because the people of the state voted for the President. The Federal Government should take care of the IDPs in Benue as they do in the North East and other states.”
He said that he would continue to stand with Ortom because he abhorred the injustice being meted against the state as a result of his principled position in defence of his people.
RELATEDLY, the Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons, Imaan Ibrahim, has disclosed plans by the agency to transform existing temporary camps into resettlement cities, as opposed to resettling IDPs to new locations that will disrupt their already established livelihood networks and comfort.
Ibrahim, while laying foundation in Keffi, Nasarawa State, for resettlement city project, stated that the project would address the critical housing challenge of Persons of Concern (PoCs), especially the IDPs.
According to the commissioner, the move is in line with the commission’s mandate of providing humanitarian protection and assistance through the provision of durable solutions to PoCs in the country, adding that the project would rehabilitate, reintegrate and resettle the PoCs into the society.
