PDP Kicks Against FG’s Planned Fulani Colonies In Benue
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue State has kicked against inclusion of the state in the Federal Government’s planned Fulani colonies.
The party, consequently, asked the state governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, to remove Benue from the list, warning that the move portends danger for the people.
PDP made the demand in a statement signed by State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, in Makurdi, yesterday.
The party said: “It is no longer news that the All Progressives Congress-controlled administration of President Bola Tinubu has earmarked Benue as one among a few states where a Federal Government-sponsored settlement for Fulani herdsmen is to be established.
“In other states, it could be natural to have such colonies where a Fulani population is already in situ, and this would seamlessly be accommodated therein. Benue has no such indigenous Fulani population with land holdings where such a colony could be established.
“It is unjust and ultimately insensitive to have a colony established for the Fulani with all the facilities for modern living in a state where victims of genocidal atrocities committed by those same Fulani are still displaced from their lands and means of livelihood and living in sub-human conditions in camps which bear semblance to concentration camps of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.”
This came as the governor restated his resolve to tackle challenges facing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.
In a statement in Makurdi, Alia said he would ensure IDPs return to their ancestral homes. He also promised to take deliberate steps to ensure the “hydra-headed monster of insecurity that has eaten deep into the fabric of the state is tackled once and for all”.
