Hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons from the Maga IDPs Camp in Mbayongo, on the outskirts of Makurdi, barricaded the Makurdi-Lafia highway yesterday in protest over alleged lack of food and basic necessities.
The demonstrators, carrying tree branches and chanting slogans such as “We are hungry” and “We want to go back home,” brought traffic to a standstill at the junction leading to their camp.
The protest occurred just 24 hours after Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, visited Benue State and announced a N1 billion donation for displaced families.
According to Vanguard, one of the protesters, Rebecca Awuse, explained their frustration: “We want to go back home. We are hungry and we are tired of staying in the camp where we are not being taken care of.”
However, the Benue State Emergency Management Agency dismissed the protest as politically motivated. BSEMA’s Information Officer, Tema Ager, stated: “The IDPs are not being starved; government is providing food for them. Those IDPs in Yelewata usually abandon their camp and move to the International Market camp in Makurdi because it is a recent camp and people have been trooping in there for food. Even when we take food to them in Yelewata, they still come back to the International Market to collect more.”
Ager attributed the unrest to the First Lady’s recent visit and donation announcement, clarifying: “The major issue that triggered this protest is politics, all because the First Lady visited yesterday and announced the donation of N1 billion. What the First Lady, Mrs. Tinubu, announced yesterday cannot happen today, and moreover, the money is for resettlement, not for food. Some of them are protesting that they were given money and we have not shared it with them.”
He further disclosed that food distribution to IDPs across the state is ongoing, with the last major distribution taking place in May. “As we speak, food is being distributed to them,” Ager said.
