Buhari approves N10b for crisis victims
News & Trends •
the vice president also condoled with the catholic church for the attack on its priests and worshippers at saint ignatius parish mbalom where 18 people including two catholic priests were killed by suspected armed herdsmen1 president muhammadu buhari has approved n10 billion for the rebuilding communities and victims of crisis just as government has denied claims of agenda to eliminate people in benue1 osinbajo said during a stakeholders meeting at the benue peoples government house makurdi that the federal government was determined to prove insinuations wrong by rebuilding all damaged communities in the country1 he said the anger and disappointment expressed by the people at the meeting was right and justified but assured that government was committed to providing security for their protection1 he said there were several interventions that had been initiated to make life bearable to them1 the vice president assured that the government would dig deep into the root cause of the crises to find lasting solutions to it1 he also dismissed the religious colorations attached to the killings saying persecutions have always been with christians and it is the duty of christians to stop it1 the gospel of jesus cannot be killed by anybody it is not fragile or written on a piece of paper he explained1 he said the recent recruitments into the various arms of the security agencies was aimed at providing effective security protection to the people especially communities under frequent attacks1 president yemi osinbajo who is on a two-day visit to benue unveiled the plan rehabilitation and rebuilding of communities on tuesday1 earlier in his address governor samuel ortom of benue called on the federal government to fish out the killers of the two priests and their parishioners1 he also called for more humanitarian aid to the state to handle the displaced people who were living in inappropriate sanitary conditions1 also speaking at the meeting maj-gen lawrence onoja retd called for the establishment of middle belt reconstruction commission to tackle the most of the challenges the state faced especially in agriculture1 he also called on the federal government to arrest the killer- herdsmen and provide protection to farmers to enable them return to their farms1 the catholic bishop of gboko diocese most rev. williams avenya regretted the attacks on innocent citizens and called on the government to encourage the ranching of livestock as a panacea to the blood bath in the benue valley1 the speaker benue house of assembly mr terkimbi ikyange called on the government to encourage the adoption of the anti- open grazing law by all states to end the acrimonious relationship with herders in the country1 a former vice chancellor abu zaria prof daniel saror appealed to the federal government to chase out the herders who had taken over their farmlands and were occupying their houses1 for dr magdalyne dura a lecturer the n10 billion earmarked to rebuild damaged communities was inadequate considering the volume of damage done by the herders1 other speakers who also supported the adoption of the anti open grazing law included former attorney general and minister of justice mr mike aondoakaa brig-atom kpera prof tony ijohor and prof jerry agada.nan1