By Peter Duru
Makurdi—Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, weekend, said his administration had intensified collaboration with operatives of Operation Whirl Stroke, a military spike operation in the state, to prevent further attacks on citizens and ensure persons displaced by the herdsmen crisis return to their ancestral homes.

Ortom

The governor, who spoke  in Makurdi, said: We are already assessing the security situation in the affected communities to determine when it would be safer for the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, to return to their homes.

“From available statistics, 60 percent of the displaced persons in the various camps are children within school age. In the past six months, children in the IDPs camps have not gone to proper school, aside the emergency classes organised for them by the state government because most schools in the attacked areas were burnt down by rampaging herdsmen.

“The attacks have indeed affected both farming and academic activities in a number of local government areas of the state.”

The governor, who also spoke on efforts  at providing comfort to the IDPs, appreciated the services of non-governmental organisations, churches and individuals in supporting the state government to ensure victims of the crisis were given attention.

While emphasizing that the Benue State Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law would not be repealed, Ortom predicted that just like June 12,1993 presidential election that had been recognised, ranching would soon be embraced nationwide.