- The Governor urged the team to engage in robust and valuable interactions that will lead to the return of peace in communities across the state
- Governor in Makurdi expressed regret over inter-communal conflicts causing loss of lives and displacement in Benue, addressing college students’ study tour
Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has decried the pains caused by inter-communal conflicts in the state and other parts of the country.
He appealed to participants of the Advanced Defence Intelligence College to provide actionable intelligence to safeguard the country from potential threats of attacks.
The governor who spoke in Makurdi when he hosted participants of Course 14/2023 of the college, who were on a study tour of the state in partial fulfillment of their course lamented that the inter-communal conflicts had led to the loss of many Benue lives and the displacement of many.
Emphasizing on the theme of the tour which was ”Preventing Intercommunal Conflict Through Actionable Intelligence to Enhance National Security,” the Governor urged the team to “engage in robust and valuable interactions that will lead to the return of peace in communities across the state.”
While reiterating his administration’s resolve at returning the Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, to their ancestral homes, the Governor called on the participants to “work in conjunction with the security agencies on ground, with the aim of providing workable solutions to the root causes of inter-communal conflicts in the state and the country in general.”
He expressed his government’s determination to put an end to all forms of intercommunal conflicts in the state in order to ensure sustainable growth and development in the state.
Earlier, the leader of the group and Director of studies at the Defence Intelligence College, Abuja, Goke Osuntokum, said the participants of the course 14/2023, were in Benue state to fulfill the partial requirements for graduation at the college.
He explained that, “the choice of Benue is important as it provides the participants the avenue to discuss salient issues that will help in tackling the cases of communal clashes within the state and Nigeria as a whole.”
According to him, “such efforts are concurrently being carried out in states such as Plateau and Taraba that also have a history of inter-communal conflicts.”