From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Yelwata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, taking refuge in a temporary camp at the International Market, Makurdi, have rejected call by their traditional rulers to return home.
The IDPs, who staged a peaceful protest at the camp gate, said they would not want to go back and be attacked again. According to them, they would only go back when the government assures them of adequate security back home.
The IDPs numbering over 3,000 were displaced on June 14 after the gruesome massacre of over 200 people in an attack on the community by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen militia.
According to sources, the Yelwata traditional rulers and stakeholders were pressuring their people to return home to halt the infiltration of the temporary camp by other displaced persons from other camps.
One of the displaced persons who identified himself as Uker Amos said: “These infiltrators have continued to feast from the humanitarian support supposed to be for the survivors of Yelwata community.”
Uker said they had to protest against the call by their traditional ruler to return home because they were not sure of adequate security in the community.
He said: “On Saturday June 5, some of us came to the gate of this camp and voiced out our position that we are not returning now until there is adequate security for us to return. The camp manager, Mr Jacob Segh, who also hails from Yelwata, told Daily Sun that it was true that they protested. “Yes it happened. The thing is that the security situation there is not yet favourable. People are still being killed on a daily basis. So, we have refused to go back until the government provides enough security for us to go back.”
Segh, however, stated that the government had addressed them, urging them to suspend the issue of going back till further notice.
Speaking in a telephone chat, the Information Officer of the State Emergency Management Agency, Tema Ager, confirmed that traditional rulers of Yelwata community were mounting pressures on their people to return home.
“But, the displaced persons are opposed to the move by the traditional rulers. They said they would only go back when there is assurance from the government that their community is safe for them to return. In fact, some of them came out to protest the call for their return.”
Ager said the state government would surely meet to assess the situation and decide when the people would return home.
Our correspondent observed that the temporary camp has become a mecca of sort as various groups and spirited individuals throng the place on a daily basis to donate relief materials to displaced persons.
Commissioner of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, recently raised an alarm about massive infiltrations of the camp by market women, criminals and people from the host community, intimating that about 50 of them had been arrested.