The State Action Plan, SAP, has adopted this definition as a starting point to develop a long-term vision on how internal displacement could be a force to drive long-term development for the state
By Henry Ibya Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia, has called on the Federal Government, the UN Resident Coordinator, Heads of UN agencies, EU Cooperation, Ambassadors, International and Local Organizations as well as development partners to support his administration’s initiative contained in the Benue State Action Plan, SAP, by coordinating its operationalization through the Durable Solutions Taskforce to achieve the state’s desire to relocate IDPs to their ancestral homes
Governor Alia who made the appeal when he endorsed for launch the State Action Plan, SAP as valid document for a period of five years, during a ceremony at Government House Makurdi, said the document has been put together to address the pressing needs of internally displaced persons in order to find lasting solutions for a brighter future for both the IDPs and other vulnerable population in the state.
He recalled during the exercise that the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix Report of June 2024, had uncovered the state as currently sheltering about 500,182 displaced persons, IDPs, accounting for 38 percent of the displaced population, lamenting that this figure has placed the IDPs in Benue second after Borno state.
In breakdown, Governor Alia maintained that affected individuals are dispersed across 23 Local Government Areas, with a large majority of them in 17 LGAs living under such conditions that are far from ideal, while most communities he noted experienced social and resource strain as a result of offering for long emergency accommodation to IDPs, stressing that his dream on assumption of office was to see a day when every internally displaced person, IDP would return to his or her ancestral home to no longer require specific assistance or protection related to displacement.
He stated that the State Action Plan, SAP, has adopted this definition as a starting point to develop a long-term vision on how internal displacement could be a force to drive long-term development for the state.
According to the governor, the state action plan, SAP, proposes three primary pathways to include Return of IDPs to their ancestral homes, local integration and Resettlement to Strengthen individual and area- level resilience, adding that to turn the vision into reality, community dialogue approach aimed at fostering understanding, peace and reconciliation is also adopted.
He also revealed that communities and traditional rulers have generously donated land for farming and relocation in Guma, Kwande, Gwer- West, Agatu and Logo Local Government Areas, pointing out that Government is actively establishing cooperative societies to provide these IDPs with sustainable livelihood as they transit back to their ancestral homes.
The governor also disclosed to the gathering that more land has been allocated to the construction of dignified emergency shelters to ensure that IDPs have access to essential services while progress continue towards achieving durable solutions, acknowledging with appreciation support from international partners such as the IOM, ECHO, BHA and others whose various contributions have led to construction of 4,259 dignified emergency shelters in Guma and funding which has significantly improved the living conditions of IDPs particularly those at Gbajimba camps 1&2, Baka,NEPA Quarters and Ichwa camps.
He expressed appreciation to the president Ahmed Tinubu, for his support and for directing the construction of IDPs Low Housing Scheme whose foundation was laid at Tatyough in Makurdi in 2023.