WE ARE WORKING ON RESETTLING IDP;says Gov Ortom …Unveils Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan (BSHRP) 2022
Mtemdoo Gbagyo
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has said that his administration is working assiduously to ensure that Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at various camps across the State are resettled back to their homes.
He disclosed this Tuesday at Benue Peoples House, Makurdi during the signing and public presentation of Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan (BSHRP) 2022.
According to him, “it is the security situations that has kept them in the camps till now. Those who attempted going back were attacked and killed”
” I don’t desire that anyone should be at the camp. I have interacted with them. Nobody wants to be there”
The Governor who described the situation as unfortunate, pointed out that, “if you asked me when I was coming in as governor in 2015 that we will be where we are today, I would have told you it was not possible. It is quite unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this situation. Are we still in Nigeria?
“It is worrisome for a state like Benue which is agrarian and supported by the civil service to have over 1.5 million Internally Displaced Persons. Farming activities have been brought to a halt”
Governor Ortom appreciated the various stakeholders in the humanitarian sector for standing by the state and supporting it.
Earlier in a remark, Chairman, document drafting committee, Professor Magdalene Dura disclosed that on June 17, 2021, Governor Ortom set up a Multisectoral Technical Committee to work on a Humanitarian Response Plan for Benue State.
“Today we are happy that the assignment has been successfully concluded as evidenced in the readiness of the Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan (BSHRP) for public presentation”
“The plan is a practical demonstration of the commitment of the State Government and its partners to a full-fledged response to the humanitarian crisis in the state. From 2011 to the end of 2021, 21 out of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state have come under attack by herdsmen, leading to the displacement of over 1.5 million people”
“The dire humanitarian situation in the state is further compounded by the influx of Cameroonian refugees into kwande Local Government escaping the conflict in their country. The IDPs have had their livelihoods destroyed and are in need of protection, food, shelter, medical assistance”
Professor Dura explained that the Benue State Humanitarian Response Plan is designed to align humanitarian response to the realities of operating and achieving impact in the context of Benue State.
“The plan adopts the provisions in the National Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). In designing this plan, the Benue State Technical Committee on Humanitarian Response also drew useful insights from the recommendations of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT)”
She called on National and international humanitarian actors to bring more capacity to rescue and reverse the humanitarian situation in Benue State while also appealing to Humanitarian donors to increase their support to the State and the Middle Belt to enable implementing organizations meet the felt needs based on the full extent of their potential capacity and available resources.
