Internally Displaced Persons women taking refuge at the Ortese IDP camp in the early hours of today blocked the Makurdi-Lafia Highway in protest against sustained killings and their displacement of people by Fulani herdsmen in parts of Benue State.
The protesters who came out before 7am carried fresh leaves and were chanting songs of despair with a call on Governor Hyacinth Alia to personally visit and address them on the ugly development before they would leave the road.
According to the women, it is worrisome that Governor Hyacinth Alia during the campaigns, promised to return the displaced persons back to their ancestral homes within his first 100 days in office but is yet to act in that direction.
They noted that rather than decrease, the killings have intensified and more people are being displaced even along the highway, lamenting that the little farm crops they managed to cultivate were also being feasted on by cattle.
The helpless women said they considered themselves as “dead people” and would not fear death anymore, even as they defied directives by security men to open the highway to commutters.
As at the time of filing this report, the protesters were still on the road and yet to be addressed by the Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia.
But Governor Alia, instead was said to have asked security personnel to ensure that the road is open to pave way for free movement of people and vehicles.
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