Chief David Kente, a stalwart of the APC, has called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and other humanitarian bodies to assist people displaced by the ongoing Tiv/Jukun violence in Wukari area of Taraba State.
Kente made the appeal on Monday in Wukari, when he visited some camps where some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), were taking refuge.
“The IDPs are going through serious hardship and need urgent assistance; NEMA must step in urgently,” he told newsmen.
He said that the IDPs in Kente and Wukari, mostly women and children, were lacking food, water and other basic needs, adding that a humanitarian crisis would soon envelope the camps if nothing was done.
Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Daniel Adi, Chairman, Wukari Local Government, said that normalcy was gradually returning to the area, but added that the IDPs were in dire need of food, water and medical attention.
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He said that 500 IDPs were taking refuge in Kente, Wukari and neighbouring villages, and declared that their needs were beyond the capacity of the local government.
“The federal government must intervene. The government must come to the aid of the IDPS because their living conditions are just bad,” he said.
He said that the local government management had summoned an emergency meeting with the disputing ethnic groups toward finding a lasting solution to the perennial conflict.
Meanwhile, Mr. David Misal, the Public Relations Officer (PPRO), of the state’s Police Command, has told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), that normalcy “was returning” to the area.
Misal said that attempts by the attackers to invade Wukari town on Sunday night were repelled by a team of security operatives stationed in the area. (NAN)