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2,600 killed in 50 Benue communities attacks in one year – Amnesty International
2,600 persons, mostly women and children, have been killed following attacks on 50 Benue communities between January 2023 and February 2024, Amnesty International says.
Amnesty International Programme Director, Mrs Barbara Magaji, disclosed this during a photo exhibition and news conference on Wednesday, in Makurdi.
Magaji further said 18 out of the 23 local government areas (LGAs) in the state, were constantly under security threats by armed attackers.
“These attacks are significantly affecting food security and livelihoods because the affected communities are farmers and displacement make them unable to carry out any farming activity.
“These displacements are having significant and adverse effects on the right to livelihoods, and depriving thousands of children of the right to education and development.
“As of March 2023 when the last counting and documentation was done, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and host communities accommodated a total of 489,245 IDPs,” Magaji said.
She further quoted the state’s Ministry of Education and the Teaching Service Board as saying that, at least 55 schools had been destroyed by armed bandits or closed down due to insecurity, leaving hundreds of children out of school.
She stressed the need for Nigerian authorities to end the attacks in Benue because they had a duty to protect lives.
She maintained that governments at all levels must ensure that these attacks were investigated and justice given to victims and their families.
“Nigerian authorities must ensure that suspected perpetrators of human rights abuses are brought to justice through fair trial.
“Nigerian authorities must investigate the security lapses that enabled gunmen to carry out attacks and get away with it.
“People who are displaced must be provided with adequate humanitarian support, standard of living and children’s education must be continued,” Magaji said.
Meanwhile, in his goodwill message, the Commanding Officer, 72 Special Forces Battalion, Lt Col. R.B. Kefas, who was represented by Lt Danjuma Abba, stated that criminality had been curtailed in all the crisis prone areas, promising that the efforts would be sustained.
Also, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Steve Yabanet, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Okon Asuquo, said that the police was working round the clock to reduce criminality to the barest minimum in the state.
One person was confirmed dead in an accident that occurred on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos on Saturday morning.
The fatal accident involved a Mini Truck (MUS 489 XS) and a Toyota Camry (KRD 470 JD).
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the accident was caused by excessive speeding during a heavy downpour this morning,” the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) said in a statement.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Mr Sola Giwa, in the statement signed by Mr Adebayo Taofiq, Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, LASTMA, said that three others were rescued at the accident scene.
He said that operatives of LASTMA responded swiftly to the accident, which occured near the Unilag waterfront, heading towards the Iyana-Oworonsoki area of Lagos.
Giwa said that despite the government’s ongoing campaign to educate motorists about speed limits, drivers continued to flout the Lagos State Transport Sector Reform Law, 2018.
He urged both commercial bus drivers and private car owners to avoid exceeding speed limits on the Third Mainland Bridge and other roads throughout the state.
Giwa said that the deceased was promptly removed by State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) officials, while LASTMA cleared the accident vehicles to ensure smooth traffic flow on the bridge.
He extended his condolences to the family of the deceased and emphasised the importance of road safety.
The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has called for financial, administrative and political autonomy for local governments.
The NULGE National President, Mr Ambali Olatunji, said in Lagos on Saturday that the autonomy was important for Nigeria to grow its gross domestic product more and curb insecurity.
Olatunji said: “We must make local governments to be financially, administratively and politically autonomous.
“We must consider community policing, so that there must be guarding at the community level.
“Our policing policy should not be reactionary, but pre-emptive to be able to address insecurity.
“Our opinion is that the local government must be the platform for policing evolution in Nigeria.”
The labour leader also called on the Federal Government to create a policy that would address unemployment at the local government level.
He called for revival of the vocational skills acquisition department of local governments.
According to him, this will ensure that women and youths in the rural communities are trained and empowered.
“The vocational skills acquisition department across local governments has been erased systematically, overtime.
“This level of government should be given adequate attention to address the needs of those in the rural settings.
“It will go a long way to improve livelihoods and ensure a better Nigeria for everyone,“ Olatunji said.
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday congratulated Mr Babatunde Fashola, former Governor of Lagos State, on his 61st birthday.
In a statement by Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President, Media and Publicity, the President described Fashola as a highly esteemed lawyer, administrator, author, essayist, and a public officer per excellence.
“He has had a brilliant career trajectory – in private practice as a lawyer and in public service.
“He was the Chief of Staff when President Tinubu was the Governor of Lagos State and had served in various capacities before his election as the Governor of the state in 2007.
“The Senior Advocate of Nigeria also served as Minister of Power, Works and Housing from 2015 to 2019, and Minister of Works and Housing from 2019 to 2023,” it stated.
It added that the President “joins family, friends and well-wishers to celebrate one of Nigeria’s most gifted minds on this special occasion.
“While thanking Mr Fashola for his fervent services to the nation, President Tinubu prays for many more years in good health for him and his family, as well as for renewed vigour as an active voice and stakeholder in building a greater Nigeria.”
One dies in Third Mainland Bridge accident
Consider LGs for GDP growth – NULGE
