Benue State Government, yesterday, said the ongoing herders and farmers clash in the state has claimed property, including farmlands, worth more than N425 billion in eight local councils of the state.
The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, disclosed this when he received Senior Course 46 Students of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, in Makurdi.
He said more than two million persons were displaced from the local councils within this period. While many are still in Internally displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, others are staying with host communities and relatives across the state, he added.
Kunde said the state has witnessed violent attacks resulting in thousands of deaths, thousands of other casualties, while hundreds are still missing.
“Property worth N400 billion and crops worth N25 billion were lost to the crisis.
“The causes of the crisis are linked to herders-farmers clashes, communal and land disputes, armed banditry, kidnapping, cultism among others,“he said.
According to him, the crises have caused food shortages in the state and the nation at large, as the farmers have been displaced from their farmlands.
“It has also increased the number of out-of-school children and trafficking of persons, just to highlight a few,”he disclosed.
The state, he noted, was carrying out biometric enumeration and enrolment of IDPs, in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for effective intervention.
“The enumeration is being carried out in six local councils of Makurdi, Guma, Agatu, Kwande, Logo and Gwer West. The exercise is aimed at arming the government with data for planning the welfare and resettlement of the IDPs.
“As at November 23, about 77,109 persons and 19,973 households had been successfully enumerated,” he said.
The commissioner, while commending the military for the efforts so far in securing the state, called for new tactics in tackling the evolving security challenges in the state.