27 Plateau villages under 'strange' Fulani control - lawmaker

Member representing Riyom Constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Daniel Dem has raised alarm that over 27 Berom villages are been held by unknown Fulani herdsmen in his constituency.

 The lawmaker also said the armed Fulani who attacked and drove Berom from the communities are not the known Fulanis that have settled among the native Berom.

 Dem made this known in an interview with The Nation in his office at the House of Assembly complex.

 He said, "Berom people who were driven away from their homes are in thousands and are currently taking refuge at a safer ground."

 "It is not a joke to say there are IDPs camps in my constituency. Just recently, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in company of member representing Riyom/Barkin Ladi Federal Constituency visited the IDPs camp to deliver some relief materials.

 "It is true we have IDPs in Riyom Local Government and they are not in one camp; there are several of them. These people have been taking refuge in market stalls for more than two years. Some are squatting with their relations and they are not finding things easy. They are in pathetic situation; they are in thousands who were displaced from various villages.”

Some of the villages affected, he said include: Rafpen, Mase, Shonong, Lua from Bachit district; Jol, Rim, Gwol, Tahol, Sopp while from Riyom district; Jebbu, Kwaki, Gwarim, Gwom and Torok.

He said these villages have been attacked more than twice, prompting them to relocate for safety. “As soon they relocated, these Fulani will take over their houses and remain there.”

Dem disclosed that "Even though there are no more attacks in the areas, government has not been able to guarantee the security of these displaced people to return to their homes. I think the situation of displaced persons in my constituency poses a very huge challenge to governments at all levels; their rehabilitation is beyond the capacity of state and local government authorities.”

He said the people need shelter and security and that though they are ready to go home, they have no home to return to and they have been driven away from their farm lands.

"I made a case when NEMA brought relief materials last week, that the need of these people is not relief materials. They need rehabilitation and empowerment to get back to life again. If they can have shelter and adequate security, they can farm and feed themselves.” The lawmaker said.

He applauded the efforts of security agencies, especially Operation Safe Haven (OPSH) and the state government for restoring peace in the state.

Media officer of OPSH, Captain Umar Ahmed however said, "The command is not aware of any IDPs camp in Riyom local government; we are not also aware of any village forcefully occupied by armed Fulani men.”