My parents are languishing in IDP camp’ – Senator
Titus Zam, APC senator representing Benue North-west has said his parents are currently languishing in one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Benue State due to the endless insecurity in the state.
The lawmaker made the statement while presenting a bill on the increase in IDP in Benue state.
He also said over 1.5 million Benue residents were displaced from their homes when armed bandits attacked different areas of the state in 2022.
The lawmaker also said no fewer than 560 children taking refuge in the camps in different parts of the state suffered malnutrition between January and October 2022.
Mr Zam (APC, Benue North-west) said this while raising a motion during plenary on Thursday.
While presenting his motion on the need to resettle displaced persons in their ancestral communities, the senator said farmers in Gwer-West, Makurdi and Guma Local Government Areas of the state have been sacked from their residences for over seven years by bandits.
He said the situation forced them to take be taking refuge at IDP camps that are under deplorable and excruciating conditions at Naka, Agagbe, Abegeba North Bank, Daudu, Umenger and Gbajimgba areas of Gwer-West, Makurdi and Guma LGAs.
The lawmaker stated that when the 2018 election was approaching, the former Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo, visited the areas attacked by bandits and promised to compensate the victims with N10 billion for their resettlement.
