President Muhammadu Buhari might find things very difficult in the 2019 election as IDPs in Benue have vowed not to vote him.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), among them nursing mothers, wallowing in penury in Benue State as a result of herdsmen attacks, yesterday vowed not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2019 general elections.
According to NewTelegraph, the IDPs based their decision on Buhari’s inaction over the ongoing killings in the state.
Baring their minds during a visit to the Agan Camp of the IDPs, , the nursing mothers expressed regrets that the President had not cared to visit any camp to condole with them and see the level of their suffering as well as trauma they are passing through with their children. They added that his inaction clearly indicated that he did not have the love of the people at heart and as such did not deserve to get their votes.
The people expressed worry that armed Fulani herdsmen were still occupying their villages and there was no hope for them to return home to start farming activities and feed their children. One of the nursing mothers, Mrs. Mnena Jimin, a mother of six, bemoaned the level of destruction of farm crops and houses by the herders.
Jimin said life had become miserable for her entire family, more so as her children were grossly mal-nourished owing to lack of proper feeding. She said: “Left for me, Buhari does not deserve to come back in 2019 and even if he does, women will not vote for him again. Look at what has happened, it is not my wish to run away from my house to come and be sleeping in this camp because of Fulani."
Jimin commended Governor Samuel Ortom for the promulgation of the Antigrazing Law, which she hoped would put to rest the lingering crisis between herders and farmers. Also baring her mind, a nursing mother from Yelwata at Tse-Ate community, Mrs. Mnguashima Ate, said there was no way anybody would go back home now.
Ate, who said that those who made such attempts were killed, disclosed that she lost three relations during the attack. She said: “As I speak with you now, the Fulani herdsmen are still occupying our places. Everything including the crops we harvested from our farms have been burnt and some eaten up by Fulani cows.
Our children can no longer go to school. Here in the camp we are not properly catered for and life is unbearable. “So there is just no way will anyone convince me to vote Buhari in 2019. What for? Nobody hears him talk about the killings in Benue State.
The other day he said the killers were from Libya but how can aliens penetrate a country without the President knowing nothing about it? So I see no need voting for Buhari.”
Also recounting her experience during the attack, Mrs. Margaret Nyi, a mother of three who hails from Guma Local Government Area, said her elder brother was killed by the invaders who also set ablaze their house as well as destroyed many economic trees and crops. Nyi disclosed that the herdsmen were still carrying out silent killings. According to her, their villages are still not safe. She expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had handled the situation.
Nyi said it was wrong to vote Buhari again in 2019 since he had failed to address the security challenges confronting the country. A mother of four, Mrs. Iveren Emmanuel, said her village had been deserted as the invaders had forced everyone out of the area.
She said: “Some of our people tried to go back and start farming.
But as they were clearing the land to cultivate crops, the herdsmen came quietly and killed them.”Meanwhile, the Nigeria Medical Students Association in collaboration with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) yesterday offered free medical services to the IDPs at Agan Camp.
The President of the association, Benue State chapter, Miss Ebiri Joy, said the free medical outreach was part of their corporate social responsibility to a target population of 2,000 people and to address the humanitarian crisis confronting the state. Ebiri said the choice of the Agan Camp was because it had been neglected by both the state and Federal Government.
She added that the victims were diagnosed of various ailments such as hepatitis, diarrhoea, eye problems, malaria as well as gynaecological issues. Ebiri bemoaned the humanitarian situation in the camp. According to her, most of the IDPs do not have funds to access medical facilities on their own hence the initiative.
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