Some senior citizens currently in the Internally Displaced Camps, IDPs, in Benue State have cried out for help.
The victims of the herdsmen attack in the state are calling on the federal government to help return them to their ancestral homes.
Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, 80-year-old Athanasius Gida, said he narrowly escaped from his ancestral home at Tse-Agbe Guma local government area, few days ago with his four children, five grandchildren and two wives when armed herdsmen sneaked into the community at night shooting sporadically and razing buildings and huts in the village.
“When they came, my children and grandchildren carried me and their mother on their backs while my younger wife ran with her children.
“We ran for close to two hours all through the night until we got to a safe area when it was almost morning and we luckily made it to this already overflowing camp.
“Since arriving here, my family and I sleep outside because the camp is already housing more than its capacity and we are yet to get a space.
“In this camp, we have only 16 toilets for these thousands of people, so most of us defecate in the open, including our children with its attendant health hazards.
“Though we get food to eat, but the truth is that the condition here is not what I desire at this age when I’m supposed to be in my house till my time to meet my creator.
“I am pleading with the federal government to direct the military to chase away the herdsmen who have taken over our communities so that we can all return to our homes.
“The state government is doing so much to help us but we heard that Governor Samuel Ortom has no control over the military and can do little when it comes to giving directives to the soldiers posted to the state to help us.
“If that is not done and quickly too, I’m afraid many of us including our children may die in this camp. I pray that this crisis does not lead us to that point.”
On his part, 90-year-old Damsa Utur, said herdsmen slaughtered his 50-year-old son, Shior at his farm early in January when they struck at Tse-Ukpam village.
According to him, “it was few days into the new year, when herdsmen came to our village in the morning at a time most of our people had gone to the farm.
“They came shooting sporadically and butchering people with their knives. My son was one of those they killed; he was in the farm that morning with his children. While my grandchildren escaped, my son was no so lucky. They caught up with him and beheaded him.
“When we all managed to escape, I later realized that my son was killed with several others they caught. My world was almost coming to an end but I summoned courage and ensured that I retrieved his corpse and gave him the burial he deserved.
“I had thought that my first son would bury me because I’m almost at my exit point, but herdsmen took him away when I needed him most.
“I am a helpless man but God is my source of strength. I am only begging President Muhammadu Buhari to come to our aid by availing us some form of compensation. Our homes and farms have been destroyed and our communities have been taken over by herdsmen.
“All we desire now is to go back to our villages. We cannot continue to live like this. I want to return to my village with my family so that my children and grandchildren can go back to school and also engage in farming because this place is obviously not convenient for anyone despite the effort of state government and other groups who help us in the camp.
“You can also see that my wife of over 60 years is disabled and staying here is not helping her condition no matter the assistance we get for daily survival.”
