THE UNITED Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that the plan to resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue is not feasible at the moment because of security challenges.
Ms Irene Babu, the agency’s Associate Protection Officer, and Head of UNHCR, Makurdi Field Unit, said this in Makurdi on Wednesday at the opening of a three-day workshop on “Unlocking IDP protection and durable solutions for IPDs”.
Babu said that the training was to enhance the capacity of government officials to develop and implement protection-sensitive policies, strategies, programmes for IDPs and Durable Solutions Action Plan for the successful implementation.
She said the resettlement of the IDPs was not currently feasible because there were still security challenges in those areas they planned returning.
“There is a bleak possibility for IDPs to return due to continuous insecurity in their areas of origin.
“Attempts made by IDPs to return to their places of origin have been fatal due to repeated attacks.
“In some instances, returnees have been subjected to severe human rights abuses, such as killings, gender-based violence, such as rape and other forms of harm, including torture, leading to secondary displacements and increased orphans.
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“The continued conflict without the timely intervention of key stakeholders has led to limited opportunities for return to places of origin or resettlemt and reintegration into new communities,” Babu said.
She said that five Local Government Areas (LGAs) were affected by the crisis in 2018, but 13 were heavily affected by crisis in 2023.
“This entire population has no access to their farms, which is their source of livilihood.
“Over the years, UNHCR has extremely been worried over the worsening situation and resulting spike in humanitarian needs and forced displacement owing to the security situation in Benue State.
“Malnourished children are seen in IDP camps, denied of their basic rights to grow in a conducive environment, exposed to harsh weather in IDP camps.
“Malnourished pregnant women, who cannot think of the fate of their delivery, is what is witnessed and faced by the 83 per cent of women and children in camps and communities.
“Benue people are now confined in makeshift and congested shelters in Ichwa, NEPA Quarters, Ortese and Baka IDP camps (just to mention a few), while their beautiful houses, of their ancestors are now occupied by insurgents, taking advantage of the savannah grasslands.
“While seasonal flooding has historically been the main driver of population displacement in the state, Benue has in the last two decades become the major flashpoint for farmer-herder clashes that have claimed thousands of lives,” she said.
She commended the Benue people for their hospitality to 12,000 refugees in Ikyogen, Kwande LGA Refugee Settlement and host communities with IDPs.
In a speech, Gov. Hyacinth Alia said the State Government was determined to resettle the displaced persons in the state and find permanent solution to the crisis.
Represented by Dep. Gov. Sam Ode, the governor said that the ongoing collation of IDPs data by the International Organisation for Migration would provide the needed data for their resettlement.
“We want solutions that we can involve building together stakeholders to address the root cause of this displacements.
“It is not just to say people are displaced here and we want to take care of them. No!
“We want to know what we can do to avert a recurrence of what happened.
“Yes, the security issues are there, there are also traditional issues like heath and all these things come together to present problems for the state.
“A situation whereby we have children who have been born in the IDP camps in the last 15 years and they are still there, have never known where they come from, have not visited their ancestral homes is not acceptable.
“So, we are working round the clock until our people go back to their ancestral homes and begin to engage in their traditional practices of agriculture for sustainability, we will not be happy as leaders of this state,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that participants at the workshop included government officials, representatives of Civil Society Organisations and security agencies as well as LG Chairmen, amongst others. (NAN)
