The Federal Government (FG) on Thursday declared a state of emergency on the humanitarian crisis in Benue state, with a call on all development partners, including United Nations (UN) and similar agencies in the country to immediately deploy to the state.
Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu who made the declaration when she visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, Ichwa, Makurdi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state to flag off the Renewed Hope Shelter Program for IDPs, Refugees and the poor in the state
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While she called on all development partners in the country to urgently intervene in the humanitarian crisis confronting the state, she pledged that the FG would specifically write the head offices of Nigeria’s partners both home and abroad, to step up their act in Benue.
Dr. Edu stated that the burden on the state government was enormously and as such the state should not be left alone in its bid to tackle the monumental humanitarian crisis, it has on its hands.
The Minister who decried the level of crisis facing the state and described it as “unacceptable”, noted that Benue is sitting on a keg of gun powder in terms of humanitarian disaster in view of the over 14,000 IDPs that were living in shanties.
She declared that “I feel so heavy in my heart and you (IDPs) have given me sleepless night on how to give solution to what is going on here.
“We are here to build low cost houses, two sites at the same time for the displaced persons. It should be a matter of emergency for all agencies and everyone in the humanitarian affair to deploy to Benue. The situation is unacceptable.
“The State government cannot do it alone. Rather than play around and waste resources, this is where it should be put to use.
“United Nation, UN agencies, everyone in the humanitarian space should be deployed to Benue. Imagine 14,000 people and households living in these shanties. All development partners should step in. There must be immediate intervention.
‘We are making a complete demand on every single development partner and we will follow it up to the latter on all of them in Nigeria. Everyone as a matter of urgency, you must deploy to Benue state and find ways to support them in terms of the health care of the people who are intenally displaced because their livelihood have been affected.
“The shelter for them and several other intervention including the WASH programs and educational learning program. We cannot allow these number of people to be unattended to. The Governor of Benue state is doing alot but this weight cannot be left to the state.
“The FG is intervening and we want all our international partners everyone to come in as a matter of urgency and make intervene. We will be keeping tabs and writing to their international headquarters all around the world and their offices in Nigeria to see that they put their boots on ground in Benue state immediately and attend to these people.
“They deserve better, they are Nigerians and we must be able to join hands with Government of Benue state to take care of them. Alot is going on here but we cannnot leave this weight on the Government.
“We want to assure the people of Benue that they are at the heart of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and he will do all in his power to resettle them so that they can contribute to his food security agenda and lift them out of poverty'”, the Minister stated.
