Wike donates N200m to Benue IDPs

Chukwudi Akasike, Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday donated N200m to the people of Benue who were displaced from their homes following herdsmen invasion of their communities.

Wike also called for comprehensive measures to resolve the “unfortunate killing” of Benue people by persons suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.

The governor said the donation was for the purchase of relief materials and medicine for the displaced persons.

Wike declared that it was no longer fashionable to trade blames while innocent people are being killed by armed gangs.

A statement signed by the governor’s Special Assistant on Electronic Media, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, indicated that he (Wike) spoke at the Peoples House in Makurdi after he led a delegation of Rivers elders on a condolence visit to Benue State, in honour of those killed by Fulani herdsmen earlier this year in the state.

Wike and Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, led other leaders to offer prayers at the graveside of the 73 Benue people murdered in cold blood.

“What has happened in Benue State has affected me. I am pained. Look at deaths everywhere. Nobody is free again.

“People don’t understand the magnitude of the injury inflicted on the people of Benue State. The country must sit down to proffer solutions to this menace,” the governor was quoted as saying.

He said the conflict that affected a component state also affects the entire country, arguing that it dislodged the security system.

In response, Governor Ortom said about 100,000 persons have been displaced by the invasion of Fulani herdsmen.

He said Benue State was also battling with the influx of displaced persons from Cameroun.

Ortom expressed regrets that rather than resolve the security challenges facing the state, the Inspector General of Police had become a spokesman for the Fulani herdsmen.

source http://punchng.com/wike-donates-n200m-to-benue-idps/