Attah Ede, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has appealed to the international community to intervene in the humanitarian crisis rocking many states in Nigeria leading to the displacement of millions of people from their ancestral lands.
Governor Ortom made the appeal while speaking at the headquarters of the International Christian Concern, ICC, in Washington DC, United States of America.
He said the attacks on innocent Nigerians by Boko Haram, the Islamic State West African Province, ISWAP (Nigeria), and armed herdsmen have forced millions of people to flee from their homes with many of them now internally displaced while some have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.
The Governor said Benue and some other states in the North Central part of the country like Plateau and Niger have been badly affected by terrorists’ attacks, while other states in the North East and North West including Adamawa, Bornu, Yobe, Kaduna and Zamfara have also faced sustained attacks and killing of thousands of people in the last couple of years.
He lamented that in some situations, the displaced persons face serious health challenges arising from malnutrition and inadequate health care.
Governor Ortom stressed that if the terror attacks are not curbed, the future of the country’s children would be jeopardized as many schools have been destroyed and members of the agrarian communities are not able to access their farms which have been taken over by the terrorists.
He said the body language of the Federal Government has emboldened the terrorists who now come within a few kilometers away from the seat of power in the Federal Capital Territory to launch attacks and free their detained members from prison, citing the recent attack on Kuje Correctional Centre as an example.
Governor Ortom said the pardon granted to the arrested terrorists and their reintegration into the military in some instances is a clear case of complicity on the part of the present government at the centre.
He stated that the intervention of the international community would put pressure on the Muhammadu Buhari administration to act decisively to end terrorism in the country.