The Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, on Wednesday, said that his administration inherited 2,124,000 Internally Displaced Persons.
The governor, who disclosed this while playing host to the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, also said that he inherited a dysfunctional civil service, youth unemployment, hunger and child malnutrition.
Alia said: “Our administration on assumption of office encountered an enormous humanitarian crisis occasioned by various forms of conflicts and natural disasters, which has left us with internally displaced persons.
“This covers 37,412 households with a total population of 2,124,000.
“Out of this number, 241,342 persons are in 13 IDP camps while the balance of 1,882,658 live within their host communities.
“A dysfunctional civil service with months of unpaid salaries, youth unemployment, hunger and child-malnutrition.
The governor lamented that the state had continued to experience intense conflicts and tensions as a consequence of herder/farmers clashes as well as intercommunal skirmishes which, he said, have continued to disrupt the agrarian lives of the people of the state.
Alia, who listed other challenges facing his administration to include dilapidated educational and health facilities and open defecation as well as insecurity, appealed to the United Nations for support
“We look to the United Nations for support in implementing comprehensive security initiatives, such as community policing programmes, early warning systems, and conflict resolution mechanisms.
“By working collaboratively, we can reduce tensions, prevent violence, and create an atmosphere of peace and security for all. I and my team are working on a template in this regard and will soon be shared with your office in the hope that adequate support will be received
Earlier, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Matthias Schmale, said that the IDPs plight in Benue was worse than those in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria.
Schmale, who noted that his team had visited some camps in the state, said that they came to find out the priorities of government and possible interventions as well as know how best they could be implemented.
He promised that the UN as the chief advocate for peace would try to bring all warring parties together and find a lasting solution to the insecurity.
