Over 1m IDPs May Be Disenfranchised in Benue Tomorrow
The SEMA boss, said, 'It is not the fault of Benue State government, it is the fault of INEC. In fact, I’m accusing INEC of trying to disenfranchise our IDPs. I’m not happy myself.'
Story by Tor Vande-Acka
MAKURDI – There are strong indications that over a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Benue State may not be able to vote in tomorrow’s Presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections.
Daily Independent also gathered that about seven persons may have lost their lives between Tuesday and Thursday due to herdsmen attacks in four local government areas (LGAs) of the state, among them Guma, Gwer-West, Logo and Apa LGAs of the state.
According to our findings, three people were killed in Ikobi, Apa LGA; two others in Gwer-West LGA and one each in Logo and Guma LGAs of the state.
Confirming the incidents, the Security Adviser, Guma LGA, Waku Christopher, said that one person was killed in the early hours of Thursday by suspected herders in Tseyom village.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Logo LGA, Salome Tor, said one person was also killed in her community by marauding herdsmen.
But the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Benue State Command, SP Catherine Anene, said she was yet to receive report on the killings.
In view of the recent killings, Daily Independent learnt that the number of the displaced in the state would add up to the already existing number of over two million displaced persons in the state, occasioned by the killings by herdsmen in the state.
We further gathered that the situation may serve to disenfranchise the victims because they have been displaced and would not be able to vote in the elections, due to the rising state of insecurity in the state.
Emmanuel Shior, the Executive Secretary (ES), State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), dropped the hint of the killings while answering questions from journalists in Makurdi on Thursday, during the monthly distribution exercise of relief materials of food and non-food items by SEMA.
While answering the question on the preparedness of getting IDPs to vote, he revealed that many of the IDPs may be disenfranchised because most of them were yet to get their voters’ cards.
Shior explained that government had ensured that displaced persons were captured, so it was left for INEC to fulfill its own part of the obligation of ensuring that IDPs get their voters’ cards to vote.
Shior regretted that most of the IDPs who registered, could not collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), alleging that it may be a plot to disenfranchise the IDPs.
Shior, who noted that IDPs in the state would be voting in the elections, said he had gone out to interface with the IDPs to ascertain their readiness but discovered that almost all of them were registered but not all of them have collected their PVCs.
The SEMA boss, said, “It is not the fault of Benue State government, it is the fault of INEC. In fact, I’m accusing INEC of trying to disenfranchise our IDPs. I’m not happy myself. But those who have their PVCs will vote.”
However, while reacting to the allegations, the INEC Public Relations Officer (PRO), Terkaa Andyar, said, “We have records of IDPs. The phenomenon of IDPs is not restricted to Benue alone. There is a national policy of IDPs voting and this will be adopted in Benue. Benue INEC will not do anything different or outside the policy.
“By the fact that someone is displaced from his original abode makes him vulnerable. The commission went round to capture all IDPs who had voters card. The commission profiled them in such a way that it was possible so that the cards can be printed for them.
“Unfortunately, most of them are rural dwellers. The information we harvested was not good enough to print cards for them. The fault was not from the commission but from them (IDPs) as they could not give sufficient information to enable us print cards for them. What will it benefit the commission after spending money and time to disenfranchise the IDPs?” Andyar queried.
However, as at press time, the INEC spokesman could not ascertain the actual number of IDPs that have received their voters’ cards, adding that he would make available the statistics soon as the Head of Department, Statistics makes it available to him.
Meanwhile, the state government, through SEMA distributed relief materials to IDPs in the state worth millions of naira.
“The items included five trucks of rice, 20,000 tubers of yam, 10,000 crates of egg, bails of mattresses, mosquito nets, cartons of noodles, among others.
Daily Independent