Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has urged the Federal Government to extend its onslaught against bandits in the North West to the North Central geopolitical region.
Ortom made the call yesterday at the Benue Peoples House, Makurdi when members of the Niger Delta Bishop’s Voice and Minister’s Forum (NDBVAMF) visited him.
He stated that the raiding of bandits’ hideouts in Zamfara, one of the North-West states, by security agents should be extended to the North Central to flush out the bandits for peace to return to the region.
NO fewer than 200 Internally-Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Tse-Yandev Camp, Makurdi, are down with malaria due to mosquito bites.
Consequently, the inmates continually cry for attention from the federal and state governments, even as they dwell in shanties they constructed amid inadequate food, medication and basic amenities.
Chairman of the camp, Mr. Yev Gabriel, told newsmen that most of the inmates were those who fled their homes from Yelwata and Kyianna border settlements of Nasarawa and Benue states, as well as those from Guma and Taraba due to herders attack.
MEANWHILE, former Chairman of Barkin Ladi Local Council, Dr. Emmanuel Loman, has described the imposition of curfew by the Plateau State government as cosmetic.
Loman lamented that the security personnel did not tell the citizens the truth, as the operatives reportedly knew bandits. He added that without sincerity, there would be no security in the area.
Similarly, a House of Representatives member from Plateau, Bakos Dachung, has expressed fear that insurgency and other forms of criminality in the country cannot be addressed without tackling the real issues responsible for uprisings in the country.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday, on the killings in the country, the lawmaker blamed the security agencies, particularly the Directorate of State Services (DSS) for failing to nip in the bud most of the planned attacks before they are carried out.
ALSO, Governor Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe State has identified the centrality of the state in the North East as the main reason crime is still recorded despite heavy investment in security.
Receiving the Chairman of National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen. Mohammed Marwa (rtd.) at the agency’s Abuja headquarters, yesterday, Yahaya sought synergy with the agency towards ridding the state of illicit drugs.
In the same vein, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the Federal Government to assent to policies and aimed at protecting civilians during armed conflicts.
Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani, made the call at a workshop in Abuja, on Protection of Civilian (PoC) Champions organised by the organisation in collaboration with the Centre for Civilians in Conflict, yesterday.
Rafsanjani, who condemned the rehabilitation programme for terrorists, said the call was necessary following incessant civilian casualties during military operations.
According to him, there is a need to establish a clear framework for institutional authorities and responsibilities for the protection of civilians in armed conflict, adding that experiences and needs of civilian communities, who suffer the daily brutalities of armed conflict, must be incorporated into measures that protect them.
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