Hoodlums invade Benue IDPs' camp, beat policemen, victims

     Some vandals on Wednesday, September 20, invaded an internally displaced persons' (IDP`s) camp in Benue state. The hoodlums reportedly carted away 200 bags of rice and other relief material meant for the displaced persons. The incident occurred at the Abagana-Agan camp on Makurdi-Lafia road. The hoodlums were said to have disguised as internally displaced persons and forcibly gained entrance into the camp.


    They also overpowered the police officers deployed to the camp to protect the victims. The hoodlums between the ages of 14 and 35 broke the door of the warehouse where relief materials were stored. One of the police officers who seek anonymity said one of the hoodlums tried to snatch his rifle.

   According to an ad-hoc staff recruited by Benue state Emergency Management Agency said: “When the hoodlums attacked, because of limited security men on ground, they overwhelmed them. We, the staff, had no option than to lock ourselves inside the stores. But they still broke in, tortured us and stole 200 bags of rice. “They also accosted the aged IDPs and snatched items that were shared to them in the morning. If you enter the stores, you will see that as they were scrambling over bags of rice, some got torn and littered the floor." Meanwhile, condemning the attack, the executive secretary of SEMA Boniface Ortese said the main camp at Makurdi Ultra-Modern International Market was also invaded.

   Ortese said the victims were not also spared as the items belonging to the aged were snatched. He said: “As I speak with you, we have about 500 children in the camp who go to school, but their parents are not ready to go back because of relief materials. “We are worried that the camps have been filled up with people not directly affected. We believe some politicians are pushing these hoodlums to carry out these acts because 80% of the IDPs at the Agan camp are not real victims."



In addition, 110,000 survivors were said to have been at risk of contracting epidemic diseases. The affected children, the Child Protection Network said, run the risk of loosing school opportunities as the schools in the area were flooded.

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