Terseer Ugbor, the Member representing Kwande/Ushongo Federal Constituency in Benue State, has said that the crisis in the state is far worse than reported, warning that the official figures for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) may be understated.
The lawmaker made the remarks on Thursday during an interview on Arise Television, as reported by news correspondents.
“Killings in Benue State are worse than reported. IDP figures may be understated.
“I will just put it like this. If the Tor-Tiv of the entire Tiv people worldwide confirmed in front of President Bola Tinubu that there are genocidal killings in Benue, if the Catholic Bishop of Makurdi Diocese and the people who have been killed and displaced from their ancestral homes confirmed that there are genocidal killings in Benue, who am I to deny that?
“The truth of the matter is there is genocide taking place in many parts of Nigeria. Now, the question is, when we think about genocide, we remember the Darfur genocide, the southern Congo, we remember the genocide against the Jews by the Nazis. So it brings back very negative memories of what genocide actually is.
“So it is unthinkable that our people, Benue state as a whole, will be subjected to genocide. I don’t believe that the Benue state can be wiped out from the face of this country. But the truth of the matter is, there is a systematic genocidal attack against many communities in Nigeria.
“One of the things that will be put in place is a mechanism through which we can raise funds and we can come up with programmes and initiatives to resettle the over 600,000 IDPs that are currently in Benue State, one of the highest in Nigeria.
“And this was also confirmed by the US Congressman, Riley Moore, who was also part of the delegation on fact-finding on Christian genocide in Nigeria that he saw physically. And this is what we have been crying about for many years now.
“Benue state has become the IDP capital of Nigeria, which is really unfortunate. And we’re hoping that these discussions that have taken place at the state level, with the government and with the bishops would have put in place a mechanism through which we can resettle IDPs and grade them into productive activities for the benefit of our dear state of Benue,” he said,
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