Benue State Faces Bleak Future In Seven L.G.A To Significant Insecurity

Benue State Faces Bleak Future In Seven L.G.A To Significant Insecurity

By Dailytab24.

Benue state is one of the underreported states facing significant insecurity, but the state government is enjoying underreporting, which has taken pressure off it. Reports of communities being sacked and lives taken continue to trouble the state. The Governor is not talked about and his government has received favor from the media which has somehow helped handled his low intensity war against insecurity.

Nigerian government is known for giving less attention to issues that don’t affect the federal government. As long as killings in a particular state do not affect the international image of the country, or if killings or insecurity do not threaten the sovereignty of the country, such conundrum is given less attention and allowed to fester.

This posses threat to citizens whose blood are shed and loved ones who suffer the trauma of insecurity that is not significantly handled by the federal government. The concept of internal security challenge being largely neglected did not start today. But while that is the case, the state in question has decided to face the fight on its own.

In Benue, vigilante groups are pushing the fight against insecurity. The State has internally called up its youth from different communities and local government to set up vigilant group to tackle insecurity. The setting up of vigilant group has not been able to address the insecurity that has bedeviled the State. There is will to engage the perpetrators of the insecurity but there is no standard combat apparatus.

The vigilante groups in Benue and other States of the country are mandated by State laws to only possess pump action gun, which cannot stand the advanced AK 47 used by the perpetrators of the insecurity. But with will, the vigilante groups in Benue are pushing significantly to contain the perpetrators who have sworn to make the State inhabitable.

In search of options to curtail the insecurity, the State Governor also decided to reinvest in forest guards, which was disbanded in some States after deforestation became a norm in Nigeria. The back to life of forest guards in Benue State is setting example of how the security group can help in intelligence gathering, other than directly engaging in gun fight with perpetrators with sophisticated weapons.

Speaking on the insecurity in the country, the Governor in a social even yesterday said “eight Local Government Areas in Benue State are at the frontline of insecurity, but my administration is not resting on its oars to end the insecurity and return the displaced persons to their ancestral homes” he briefly said.

The issue of internally displaced persons in the State is on significant rise, with more IDPs camp being built and no return date on sight for the internally displaced persons. The fear of going back home is heightened by the reports of new killings in the States, and arrival of displaced communities to IDP camps.

The real cause of the insecurity in the State is hinged on farmer/herders crisis that continue to pose a security challenge in Nigeria. There seems to be no hope for the citizens who now rely on forests guards and vigilant groups to survive.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *