JUST IN: Direct military to stamp out insecurity in Benue, Tiv youths urge Tinubu

The Tiv Youth Organization (TYO) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take immediate action to address the insecurity plaguing their communities.

Speaking during the organization’s end-of-year lecture in the nation’s capital, TYO President for the Abuja Chapter, Chief Joseph Saater Undu, appealed to Tinubu to issue a directive to security agencies to stamp out insecurity, particularly in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Benue and other parts of the country.

He expressed disappointment at the failure of the federal government to heed previous calls for the return of displaced persons to their ancestral homes.

Undu decried the increasing attacks on their communities, noting that even expressways in Benue and Nasarawa states are no longer safe.

He lamented, “The current administration has failed to heed our earlier call of returning our people back to their ancestral homes after five months in office. Instead, the attacks on our communities are increasing every day.

“We are again asking him to give a matching order to security agencies to stamp out insecurity in our communities and return our people back to their ancestral homes, and not in clustered homes as was proposed by the Federal Government. This is not our settlement pattern in Tiv land.”

Undu further stressed the need for government to create a safe environment for displaced persons to return home and to provide financial support to rebuild their homes in their various ancestral lands.

He firmly stated the Tiv people’s opposition to the government’s proposal for clustered homes.

“Government should chase the invading armed herdsmen away and allow our people to return back home. No cluster homes for our people,” Undu demanded.

In the same event, Professor Ukertor Gabriel Moti, a Professor of Public Sector Management and Governance, gave a lecture titled, ‘Internal Displacement: Impact on Food Security, National Security and Unity’.

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He highlighted the relationship between displacement and conflict in Nigeria.

“The link between displacement and conflict in Nigeria is evident and has strong underlying development deficits. The protection of IDPs in the country ultimately requires seeking durable solutions to address the challenges they face,” Professor Moti stated.

He further emphasized the need for clearer mandates, effective coordination, and a specific framework to address the situation of IDPs in the country.

“The existing institutional arrangements, although struggling to manage the situation, particularly in the short-term, are hindered by current policy deficits and the lack of a specific framework to adequately address the situation or cover medium to longer-term requirements for IDPs,” he said.