Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Akpen Leva has bemoaned the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and urged relevant authorities to assist persons taking refuge in camps.
Leva stated this, yesterday, when he celebrated his birthday with IDPs at Camp 3, Daudu in Guma Local Government Area.
CAN chairman regretted that people who fled their ancestral homes in 2018 following attacks by armed herdsmen have been kept in camps for more than a year. Leva said the government had failed in its promise to resettle the IDPs, a development that had brought untold hardship to the displaced persons.
The cleric,therefore, urged the government to work towards ensuring that displaced persons in camps return to their ancestral homes to live normal lives.
He also appealed to corporate organiasations and citizens with the wherewithal to donate to IDPs to cushion the effect of their sufferings.
Rev. Leva advised displaced persons not to lose hope in God. He also enjoined the Christian community in the state to intensify prayers for IDPs for divine intervention.
He commended the state government for taking care of the IDPs over the years, and expressed the confidence that the state government would not relent in its gesture.
Leva said the choice of the IDP camp to celebrate his birthday way to identify with their sufferings.
Responding on behalf of the IDPs, Mr. Oliver Ijir, the camp manager, said about 7,666 people were still living in Daudu IDP Camp 3. He commended the CAN chairman for identifying with the IDPs on his birthday and assured that the relief materials provided would be judiciously distributed.
Rev. Dr. Philip Gire in an exhortation assured the IDPs that God was with them. He also urged them to believe that God would certainly change their situation for better.
Items donated to the IDPs by the CAN chairman include bags of rice, yams, noodles, clothing, foot wears and toiletries.