From Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia
Victims of last week’s civil disturbances in Wukari and Ibi local government areas of Taraba state have vowed not to return home, saying, as Nigerians who have the liberty to live in any part of the country, Nasarawa state is their new home.
The leader of the internally displaced persons (IDPs), numbering over 2,000, Mohammed Madaki, made the remark on Monday, at the palace of the Emir of Lafia, during the presentation of relief materials provided by the state government to ameliorate their suffering.
He called on the state government to urgently put modalities in place towards ensuring that they are duly registered as voters so as to enable them exercise their franchise in the forthcoming general elections, adding that they would remain law-abiding.
Presenting the items, the Secretary to the State Government, Hajiya Zainab T. Abdulmumin, who represented Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, said the displaced persons would be provided with temporary shelter at Shabu, before they relocate to the permanent settlement for internally displaced persons in Shinge area.
She noted that Al-makura’s prompt response to their plight is in keeping with his government’s posture towards ensuring that the poor are well catered for and urged the displaced to remain peaceful and law abiding.
Hajiya Zainab also took liberty of the occasion to extend Al-makura’s sympathy to the displaced, and commiserated with those who lost their loved ones and property, urging the people to accommodate the IDPs, particularly as the month of Ramadan approaches.
Items presented to the displaced persons include 100 bags of rice, 22 bags each of millet, maize and beans, 19 bags of sugar as well as the sum of N2 million.
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