The Digest:
Internally displaced persons in Benue State have issued a stark message to the federal government: stop pretending, and either secure their return home or admit failure. After years in camps that were meant to be temporary, displaced farmers describe lives of waiting—fields abandoned, children born into displacement, and generations growing up without land or identity. Survivors recount fleeing deadly attacks, losing families, and watching their homeland turn into silence. As the 2027 elections approach, they warn that campaign promises ring hollow without action to restore security and return them to their ancestral lands.
Key Points
- Over 300,000 IDPs in Benue remain displaced years after fleeing attacks on their communities.
- Each missed planting season deepens food insecurity and national economic loss.
- Children born in camps have never known home, creating a generation without roots.
- The prolonged crisis reveals failed security and resettlement policies.
- Displaced citizens demand return to land, not just aid, calling it their "dignity."
Sources: The Punch, IDP Camps Benue
