By Peter Duru

The Middle Belt Movement for Justice and Peace, MBMJP, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to include Benue state in his recently approved National Humanitarian Coordination Committee.

The MBMJP said it was important to have Benue just like Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in the committee given the over 500,000 Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, currently taking refuge in makeshift camps across the state following the armed herdsmen invasion of parts of the state that claimed thousands of lives.

Convener of MBMJP, Comrade Joe Bukka who made the appeal yesterday in Makurdi commended President Buhari for coming up with the committee noting that it would add impetus to addressing the humanitarian crisis in parts of the country.

READ ALSO: Implement National Gender Policy — Senate President

According to Bukka, “what the President has done is novel and it should be commended by all. It will add impetus to the country’s quest to tackle the humanitarian crisis we have in the North East, West and the North Central particularly Benue state.

“We know that Benue is the epicenter of herdsmen killing in the country with closed to 2,000 person killed in the last two years, over 500,000 displaced from their ancestral homes and forced to live in makeshift camps.

“That is the more reason why we want to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to include Benue in the committee given the humanitarian situation in the state and the fact that just like Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, the humanitarian crisis in Benue state is quite alarming.”

He noted that the inclusion of Benue state would be justified and to a large extent ensure that the abandoned IDPs in several camps across the state and the over 10,000 Cameroonian refugees in the state received adequate attention.

Vanguard