Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas and Benue State Governor, Hycienth Alia on Monday visited IDPs on the border communities of the two states.

Alia said the Benue government was committed to strengthening collaboration with Taraba in tackling insecurity.

He stressed the need for coordinated action to secure lives and property on border communities.

Kefas, in his remarks, described the joint security engagement as a strong demonstration of both administrations’ determination to end recurring conflicts and restore lasting peace in the region.

He announced the formation of a joint committee to oversee the implementation of resolutions reached at the meeting and ensure sustained follow-up on agreed security strategies.

He also said that the visit was part of efforts to address the persistent security challenges affecting border communities between the two states.

The Tor Tiv, Prof. James Ayatse, urged stakeholders to prioritise dialogue and peaceful coexistence among communities in Taraba and Benue, noting that unity remained essential for development.

The Aku Uka of Wukari, His Royal Highness Manu Ishaku, expressed optimism that the discussions would produce positive outcomes and prayed for sustainable peace in the affected areas.

The meeting brought together senior government officials, security agencies and traditional rulers from both Taraba and Benue to explore practical and sustainable solutions to the crisis.

The governors also visited IDPs in Abako, Chanchanji and Amadu, where they assured them of improved security measures, safe return plans, and provision of relief support to alleviate hardship.

From Attah Ede, Makurdi

The Benue State Government on Monday said it has judiciously spent not more than N1.275 billion donated to the state on resettlement of victims of herdsmen attacks in Yelewata, Guma local government area and other Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) at different local government areas of the State.

Chairman of the Technical Committee on the Implementation of Donations to Displaced Communities in Benue State, Deborah Aber, revealed this at a press conference in Makurdi.

Aber, who is also the Secretary to State Government(SSG), explained that in  June, 2025, there was an attack at Yelewata community in Guma LGA that drew the attention of the Federal Government to the State, where  President  Ahmed Bola Tinubu and his wife with other governors visited the state to see the damage done.

“The first lady made a huge donation in the sum of 1 billion naira to ease the IDPs crisis in the State.

“Following her visit, we had other donations from Nasarawa state government the sum of 150 million naira, the United bank for Africa, UBA donated 100 million naira and thr Director General, DSS sent in a donation of 25 million naira and that totalled 1,275,000,000 received into the State.

“After that the Governor set up a committee to look into the judicial implementation of these donations that the state had received and he saddled me with the responsibility to chair the committee.

“We began sitting on the 19th August, 2025. Our mandate was clear to identify the needs of the displaced persons and the communities that host them. We started by engaging all representatives of the IDPs, brought them to the State capital, Makurdi and asked them to give us their own priority needs that they had.

“This was done so that it does not seem that the state was going in to solve a perceived problem but to specifically meet the need the people had. That was done and they came back a second time and we went to work aggregating all of the needs and they were spread across food, health, shelter, education for their children, livelihood, water.

 “We took a stand to say that these donations came as a result of the incident in Yelwata but it will spread to other IDPs, though we prioritised Yelwata. This committee has painstakingly gone through the whole steps in the things that it has set out to achieve. We did a mapping of beneficiaries, gathered data to meet the specific people this fund was meant for”, she stated.

According to her, the sum of N56,325,000.00 million was allocated for Cash transfer where no fewer than 1000 IDPs have benefited; the sum of N224,500,000.00, for Food and Nutrition; N28,900,000.00, for Shelter, while WASH got N125,325,000.00.

“Others are Security N56,125,000.00; Agriculture, N56,125,000.00. Resettlement has a large chunk of N277,350.000.00; Health N112,250,000.00, and Peace and Reconciliation N16 million.

“The Sustainability Fund, received N24,800,000.00; Livelihood, N21,625,000.00; host communities N127,500,000.00; Education N148,175,000.00; making it a total of N1,275,000,000.00 (N1.275 billion)”, Aber stated”,’ Aber stated.

She added that about 38 of the displaced persons” homes that are under construction have reached the roofing stage, while another 5 of the homes were at various stages of completion, while 5,893 of displaced persons in the state have been placed on the State’s Health Insurance scheme.

The SSG disclosed that the committee also reticulated water and provided boreholes to some IDP host communities in the state.

 “Water has been reticulated to about 2km to where resettlement homes are being built. The state in conjunction with the European Union Fund through ECO implemented by International Organization for Migration, IOM built a water treatment plant at Naka, Gwer West local government area which was commissioned 2 weeks ago ending a 40 year clean water drought in the town.

“We also had the security component. We had engagement with International partners, CSOs who were part of the technical team that was working on all of these. We are IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, DSS, Police and all the MDAs.

“Funds earmarked for Education have been able to build 4 classrooms in Yelwata, textbooks, school bags have been procured. We are building makeshift shops at the International Market for the children to study”, she maintained.

Meanwhile, no fewer than two internally displaced pregnant women have died in the past five days at Agagbe camp in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

The deceased victims died as a result of non-availability of adequate health care delivery.

Sources told our correspondent on Monday that the deceased pregnant women were identified as Aondona Dooshima, 30 years old and Sumali Blessing, 28yrs old.

An inmate who simply identified himself as Terna told our correspondent that the pregnant women died last Thursday, February 26 and Sunday, March 1, 2026.

The inmate attributed the death of the two pregnant women to poverty and inadequate health care at the camp.

According to him, “On the 26/2/2026 at about 9 am o’clock in the morning a displaced woman at IDP Camp Agagbe named Aondona Dooshima 30 years old of Tse Nongu Tswarev in Gaambe Ushin council Ward of Gwer West LGA died with a pregnancy .

“Her husband, Aondona shienge 35yrs, who narrated how his pregnant wife died said she started complaining of pain in her abdominal region and had no money to take care of her.

“But when the pain persistent, he moved her to a clinic Agagbe where she died.

He added, “While we were still mourning the demise of Dooshima, another pregnant woman, Sumali Blessing,  28yrs old internally displaced person Agagbe camp with registration number 85X01475 of Tse Ameen In Mbapa council Ward also died with pregnancy yesterday (Monday).

“The husband to the deceased Sumali Aondowase 37yrs explained that the incident occurred as a result of his inability to take good care of his wife by not giving her food and taking her to the hospital as it is expected because of his predicament.

“But when he later moved his wife to the primary health care at Abani on Sunday, it was too late, she died the following day and her body deposited at Agagbe morgue.

Terna, who said that the deceased and their families had been taking refuge in idp camp Agagbe since 2022 called on the state government, spirited individuals and non-governmental organizations to help the displaced persons at Agagbe camp.

When contacted, the Information Officer for the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Tema Ager said that the late victims were living in the host community.

“The two women are not staying in Camp but are living in the host community,”at Ager said.

From Dan Amasingha, Minna

Niger State Governor, Umar Bago, has raised serious concerns over escalating banditry attacks affecting ten out of the state’s 25 local government areas, revealing that no fewer than 10,000 residents have been displaced.

The governor, who spoke to journalists at the Government House in Minna over the weekend, decried the persistent attacks on rural communities, describing the perpetrators as criminal and extremist elements.

According to him, the vast landmass of the state which accounts for about 10 percent of Nigeria’s total land area has made security operations particularly challenging.

“Niger State has about 10 percent of the total landmass of the country, making it extremely difficult to effectively control.

Bago explained that despite sustained collaboration between the state and federal governments, attacks have continued, largely due to armed elements fleeing intensified military operations in the North-West and seeking refuge in the expansive forests of Niger State.

 He added that some of these groups are gradually spilling into fringe areas of neighbouring South-West states.

The governor disclosed that about 10,000 persons have been displaced by the violence, assuring that efforts are ongoing to restore peace and facilitate their safe return to their ancestral communities.

He noted that the Federal Government has been supporting the state with humanitarian assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while promising deliberate measures to ensure security is strengthened in affected areas before encouraging residents to return home.

Investigations reveal that the most affected councils are located in Niger East and Niger North senatorial districts.

In Niger East, the impacted local government areas include: Shiroro, Munya, Rafi, and Parts of Paikoro.

While in Niger North, the epicentres of attacks are:

Kontagora, Mariga, Magama, Mashegu, Agwara and Borgu.

The governor reiterated his administration’s commitment to restoring normalcy and called on residents to support security agencies with credible intelligence to tackle the menace.

He assured that the state government remains determined to reclaim affected communities and enable displaced persons to resume meaningful livelihoods.