A community leader has called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to assist displaced persons in the Agojeju-Odo and Abejukolo communities in Omala Local Government Area with relief materials.
Mr. Thomas Acheneje, the spokesman for the Agojeju-Odo community, made the call while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Thursday.
Agojeju-Odo and Abejukolo communities in Omala LGA of Kogi were attacked by bandits on April 4, leaving 25 dead and several others injured.
The bandits sacked the entire population of the communities and are now taking refuge in neighbouring communities.
Acheneje said that since April 4, the internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been encountering untold hardships due to a lack of food, drinking water, and conducive places to stay.
“Our people are living in terrible conditions. This is why, as a community leader, I am pleading with NEMA and SEMA to consider it necessary and expedient to take some relief materials to them.
“Most of these IDPs are taking refuge in primary schools, mosques, and churches with little or nothing to cater for themselves.
“The painful thing is that the bandits stoked food stuff, including maize, yams, cassava, and beans,”” he said.
The community leader expressed worry over the likely disease outbreak in some of the crowded IDP camps and the houses of relatives and friends they are camping with.
He added, “As members of the affected communities, we have been trying our best to assist our people, but the situation has overwhelmed us.”.
Acheneje commended Gov. Usman Ododo’s proclamation on Wednesday that some suspected bandits have been arrested.
While calling for more arrests, he also called for the establishment of a military base at Agojeju-Odo, a border community between Benue and Kogi, to checkmate the incessant attacks in the area.
Responding, Mr. Segun Joseph, State Commissioner for Environment, said that the government has planned to send relief materials through SEMA to the affected communities in Omala LGA.
“We are aware of the plight of the displaced persons in the Agojeju-Odo and Abejukolo communities and will, by God’s grace, reach out to them by Friday with some relief materials.
“Gov. Usman Ododo’s administration is a caring one and won’t abandon its citizens for no reason,”” Joseph assured. (NAN)
