By Ighomuaye Lucky. O
Former executive secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Evangelist Tor Uja, has drummed for the complete shutting down of all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps everywhere across the country.
He made this call while speaking with Christian leaders from various denominations at the Mission House International Headquarters in Makurdi, during a meeting to review their recent visit to the displaced persons in Yelwata and Makurdi.
He described the camps as massive fraud, saying they benefit just a few at the expense of the inmates.
“We want the Benue State Government, in conjunction with the Federal Government, to close down all the IDP Camps right now. No IDP camp should be in operation in the land; none has been counted for any productivity.
“We stand here as the Church of Christ in the land to make this call and to say IDP camps are a fraud. Many people who set them up intended that people should be given a brief respite, but this brief respite has become long term destruction. Every IDP camp is a fraud and is a destructive element.”
He suggested that the government must rise up to its responsibility by modernising places destroyed by crisis through reconstruction and resettlement of those affected, insisting that temporary accommodation for attack victims should be provided in safe neighbourhoods closest to them rather than the IDP camps.
He decried that the Federal Government had allowed the crisis of herdsmen and bandits to linger for too long.
“We are not the only country to have experienced these kinds of crises; Israel experienced it and they mobilised all their resources to exterminate, not only herdsmen but also, the threat they stood for. America had a similar experience where lawlessness and banditry became a bigger order of the day but the Americans had to stand up and exterminate them with a singleness of mind.
“We need a new way of looking at our people and their environment and bringing decisive action that will enable them not only to live in peace but to also produce for development.”
He appealed to Christian leaders to visit other places ravaged by attacks in the state and afterwards draw the attention of major stakeholders, including traditional rulers and other leaders in the land, beside their interventions in the areas of health, education and adoption of some of the children.
Sun
