The Benue State Government yesterday said that the intractable humanitarian crisis arising from invasion, killing and displacement of hordes of the people has indeed overwhelmed the state.
Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. James Iorpuu, disclosed this during the distribution of relief materials to displaced victims of armed herdsmen attacks at the agency’s headquarters in Makurdi.
Mr. Iorpuu said, “You are aware that this humanitarian crisis has overwhelmed the state, the governor has taken it upon himself to ensure that these people (displaced persons) get relief materials from government” to cushion the hardship they are going through.
Mr. Iorpuu said the humanitarian situation has put the state on the global map of the world, stressing that at the moment the state government has taken delivery of food and non food materials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), a trailer load of cement, 25 bundles of zinc for onward distribution to the IDPs, while plans are underway to construct latrines in IDP camps where none exist.
He disclosed that since the Minister of Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu visited the state, the people have continued to witness pockets of attacks in communities, stressing that the state government on her part would not rest on its oars in efforts to contain the situation.
The SEMA boss said staff of the agency are in the field profiling the IDPs and households to enable the agency have authentic number of the victims especially now that their number has increased.
Items distributed included 4, 200 bags of 25kg rice, 2, 810 bags of 25kg beans, 2,370 bags of garri, 4,155 cartons of indomie, 324 litres of groundnut oil, 191 litres of red oil, 433 cartons of maggi, 363 cartons of sugar, mattress and cooking pots among others items.