By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja
Internally Displaced Persons, (IDPs), in Benue state have threatened legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), over their imminent exclusion from the ongoing Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR), exercise.
The IDPs, have therefore, issued 21 daysUltimatum to INEC, within which the Commission shall ensure special arrangements at their various camps, to enable them register, or risk litigation.

The IDPs are from six council wards of Uvir, Mbadwem, Mbabai, Mbayor-Yandev, Mbawa and Nyiev, all Guma Local Government Area of Benue state.
Their demands were contained in a 12-paragraphs petition dated 24th September, 2021, with title, “Re: Continued Disenfranchisement of Internally Displaced Persons From Guma LGA of Benue State”, through their representative and former Commissioner for Lands and Survey in the state, Hon. Surv John Tondu, to the Chairman of INEC which was duly received and acknowledged with official stamp same day.
Hon Tondu, in the petition signed by him on behalf of the people, said, “I have the mandate of the aforementioned IDPs and my people in general to bring to your immediate attention for necessary action, the fact that the Internally Displaced Persons Camps in Benue state and their inhabitants are being completely shut out of our country’s political processes because they are not part of the ongoing Continuous Voters’Registration exercise.
“As you are also aware, many Nigerian citizens of Benue state origin were forced into IDPs camps within the state because of frequent bloody internal conflicts which occasioned the prevailing climate of insecurity in the state.
“You will agree with me that those persons unfortunately displayed from their homes are still entitled to vote and be voted for, not withstanding their current residential status”, Tondu said, insisting that it was the responsibility of INEC to ensure that the IDPs are registered as voters and are not disenfranchised through discriminatory implementation of INEC policies.
He recalled that in the run up to 2019 general elections, eligible voters in the IDPs Camps in Benue state were not afforded the opportunity to participate in the CVR exercise, and thus, were unable to exercise their franchise during the election.
“Now the INEC is conducting another Voters registration for purpose of  the 2023 general elections, and once again persons eligible for registration as voters but who currently reside in the IDPs camps are being excluded from the process as no special arrangements whatsoever have been made to ensure their registration as voters and the inclusion of their names in the updated voters register.
“Facilities to enable online registrations are non-existent in the IDPs camps at the moment. Even if such facilities were to be made available in the IDPs camps, it is a common fact that the level of illiteracy, including computer illiteracy, is very high in Nigeria. It could be safely estimated that 75 percent to 80 percent of those in the IDPs camps in Benue state are illiterates, who would find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to manipulate smart phones or computers in order to fill online soft copies of the registration forms to initiate or conclude their voters’ registration process.
“In the light of the foregoing, I call on INEC to make immediate special arrangements to take the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration exercise to all the IDPs camps hosting Nigerians from Uvir, Mbadwem, Mbabai, Mbayor-Yandev, Mbawa and Nyiev.
“Please take notice that if no special arrangements are put in place by INEC within 21 days, we shall be constrained to have recourse to the judicial system and take legal steps to ensure that the Commission is compelled to register and include in the voters register every Nigerian citizen from the aforementioned Council Wards in the IDPs camps in Benue state”, Tondu warned.
The petitioners want registration centres for physical registrations of voters deployed to the IDPs camps in the state, believing that this was the only way to guarantee that the IDPs are given the opportunity of exercising their franchise in the forthcoming elections, so that they could freely choose their political Representatives.