Body urges FG to resettle IDPs in Benue

The Conflict Resolution and Peace Building Committee set up by Benue State government during the Tiv/Fulani crisis, early this year, has called on the federal government to resettle the affected persons back to their respective communities.
It would be recalled that Governor Gabriel Suswam had set up a peace building committee made up of stakeholders from the 14 local governments covering the Tiv axis, headed by Brigadier General John Atom Kpera to find lasting solution to the Tiv/Fulani crisis in the state.
The committee, which submitted its report last Friday in Makurdi, Benue State capital pleaded with the federal government to also build new houses for the affected persons to enable them return to their respective homes.
Speaking on behalf of the committee, Senator Joseph Waku urged the federal government to partner with the state government to resettle the affected areas and “rebuild the homes of those that were dispossessed of their houses during the crisis.”
“We also recommended that those who were displaced from their various communities should be encouraged to go back to their various places”, Waku added.
Senator Waku, who spoke on the continuous influx of Fulani into Benue villages, told newsmen that Fulanis are free to move around, saying that the natives have been told to report to appropriate authorities, whenever they see strange faces in their domains.
“Constitutionally, the Fulani are entitled to move freely but we have also recommended that those Fulani that were already here, people know them and if they find some strange Fulani that are not conversant with them, they should report to the appropriate authorities”, Waku who represented the Benue Northwest senatorial district between 1999 and 2003 said.
While he noted that the reports would not work without a white paper, the former senator disclosed that Governor Gabriel Suswam has constituted a committee for the white paper, which he said would be a necessary document that will make the report viable.
As at the time of filing this report, the committee covering Zone C made up of Agatu, Idoma and Igede were yet to submit their report.