Group urges FG to establish special fund for victims of herdsmen attacks

The President General of Tiv Cultural and Social Association, Chief Goodman Msughaondo Dahida on Friday called on the federal government to establish a special fund for victims of herdsmen attacks across the country.

Dahida made the call when he visited some internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps in Jalingo, Sabongida and Dananacha communities who were recently displaced by herdsmen in their renewed killings of farmers in Gassol and Ardo Kola, Lau and Karim Lamido local government areas of Taraba.

The President General who said over a thousand people were killed herdsmen attacks in Taraba alone between 2013 and 2016 and over 500,000 others displaced at various times during the period said rebuilding such communities ravaged by herdsmen attacks across the country requires a special fund from the federal government.

“In Benue state which equally had its own share of herdsmen attacks, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) recently built 100 housing units for the displaced persons in Guma local government area of the state to solve the housing need of the IDPs.

“That is to tell you the level of humanitarian crisis going on in parts of the country as a result of herdsmen attacks. Just recently the whole of southern Kaduna was sacked by the herdsmen, throwing the communities there into serious needs. NEMA and SEMA alone cannot handle the humanitarian needs of people affected by herdsmen attacks.

“I am not calling for the compensation of the families of those killed by herdsmen attacks, but President Mohammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency establish a special fund for victims of herdsmen attacks in the country, to help solve the humanitarian crisis going on as a result of these attacks,” he said.

Dahida who insisted that the atrocities being perpetrated by herdsmen across the country were worse than those committed by Boko Haram and wondered why less attention was being given to the issue, while the federal government and international community’s attention were being focused on Boko Haram.

He advised the president to emulate former president Goodluck Jonathan who established Victim Support Funds (VSF) for victims of Boko Haram and do same for the victims of herdsmen attacks who are equally Nigerians and are suffering the same fate like Boko Haram victims.

While decrying the suffering of the IDPs currently in camps in the state, following renewed herdsmen attacks on farming communities in Gassol and Ardo Kola local government areas, Dahida appealed to governor Darius Ishaku to act fast and restore peace in the affected communities to enable the people return to their homes.