From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
Benue State governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has urged participants of the Advanced Defence Intelligence College, Abuja, to provide intelligence reports that will safeguard the state and nation from potential threats of attacks.
The governor made the call on Monday, when participants of Course 14/2023 of the college, who are on a study tour of the state in partial fulfillment of their course, visited him in Government House, Makurdi.
He said the theme of their tour, ”Preventing Inter communal Conflict Through Actionable Intelligence to Enhance National Security,” was apt and urged the team to engage in robust and valuable interactions that will lead to the return of peace in communities across Benue state.
While lamenting the pains occasioned by intercommunal conflicts, the Governor said many Benue lives have been lost just as millions of others have been displaced from their ancestral homes.
He said his administration’s is poised to return the IDPs to their homes, and called on the participants to work in conjunction with the security agencies on ground, with the aim of providing workable solutions to the root causes of intercommunal conflicts in the state and the country as a whole.
Earlier, leader of the group and Director of studies at the Defence intelligence College, Abuja, Goke Osuntokum, said the participants of the course 14/2023, were in Benue to fulfill the partial requirements for graduation at the college.
The Director said the choice of Benue is important as it provides the participants the avenue to discuss salient issues that will help in tackling the cases of communal clashes within the state and Nigeria as a whole.
He said such efforts are concurrently being carried out in states such as Plateau and Taraba, that also have a history of intercommunal conflicts.
He appreciated Governor Alia and the people of the state for the hospitality accorded them since their arrival.