From Austine Tule, Makurdi
The Benue State House of Assembly has appealed to the Benue State Government to hasten work on the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Azaibo, Turan, Kwande Local Government Area (LGA), Benue.
This followed a motion of Urgent Public Importance moved by Engr Tertsea Gbiseh (Kwande East/PDP) on Tuesday during plenary in Makurdi stating that more people were displaced by herdsmen on daily basis.
“The number of persons displaced by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in my consrituency keep increasing on daily basis,” he said.
The state lawmaker lamented that since the beginning of March his constituents were continually come under attack by herdsmen.
”They have taken over the Moon and Mbadura Council Wards. They move freely with their cattle. Though there is a law in the state that prohibits open grazing but they are flouting it.
“Just yesterday being Monday, nine of my constituents were hacked down. Out of the number three of them are my relatives.
“The herdsmen have turned themselves into killers. They kill harmless farmers at will. This is unacceptable.
“I commend the Benue State Government for enacting the Prohibition of Open Grazing and Ranches Establishment Law.
The motion was seconded by Mr Abu Umoru (Apa/PDP) saying that the incessant killings perpetrated by the herdsmen were fast becoming a recurring decimal.
Umoru further said that the motion was apt and timely, stressing that the killings were going on unabated for too long.
Ruling, the Speaker, Mr Titus Uba, called on the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to deploy more of its Agro Rangers to Moon, Mbadura, Yav and Anyiase to forestall further killings of the farmers by herdsmen.
Uba also called on the Benue State Emergency Management Agency and donor agencies to provide relief materials to the displaced persons in the affected communities.
