Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has announced plans to shut some Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps following an improvement in the state’s security situation. The governor said the development had encouraged displaced residents to return voluntarily to their ancestral communities, where many had resumed farming and begun rebuilding their homes.
Alia disclosed this during a media interaction with the Renewed Hope Ambassadors Presidential Media Team, led by President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The team visited Benue to inspect completed and ongoing Federal Government and state infrastructure projects across the state’s 23 local government areas.
According to Alia, security conditions across several parts of Benue have improved with support from the Federal Government and continued monitoring by security agencies, traditional rulers and residents. The governor recalled that 15 IDP camps had been established across the state following attacks that displaced thousands of residents. He, however, said the number of occupants had started declining as security improved.
“We are already making some plans to close down some because the IDP occupants have voluntarily gone back to do their farming,” Alia said.
He explained that the government was working with international organisations, including the United Nations and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), to ensure that returns were sustainable.
The governor stressed that the objective was not simply to move displaced persons back to their communities but to create conditions that would prevent them from being displaced again. He said many returnees had already resumed farming and were reconstructing houses in their ancestral communities, describing the development as an encouraging sign for Benue’s agricultural economy.
Alia also used the occasion to outline some of his administration’s interventions across the state.
He said the government had declared a state of emergency on road infrastructure, leading to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads across several communities. According to him, urban renewal projects are also progressing, while major township roads have been upgraded to improve transportation and stimulate economic activity.
The governor said the administration had also begun rehabilitating hundreds of neglected primary schools across the state. He disclosed that 9,700 teachers had been recruited for primary schools as part of efforts to strengthen basic education.
On healthcare, Alia said primary healthcare facilities were being revamped while the state’s teaching hospital had undergone significant transformation. He claimed that the facility was attracting patients from neighbouring states because of its expanded specialist services and improved facilities, including a VIP wing.
The governor also disclosed that medical equipment secured through collaboration involving the United States Government and subnational authorities was expected to arrive in Benue for distribution to primary healthcare centres across the state’s local government areas.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the state government after the media engagement, Onanuga thanked Governor Alia and his deputy, Samuel Ode, for hosting the delegation. He said the visit was organised to give senior media practitioners an opportunity to see firsthand infrastructure projects being implemented by both the Federal and Benue State governments.
Onanuga particularly commended the administration for reviving previously inactive facilities, including the Tarakum Mill, Otobi Water Works and the state brewery. He described the projects as potential drivers of economic growth and praised the government’s road interventions, especially in remote areas that had previously faced insecurity.
The presidential media aide also commended the administration for paying teachers’ salaries and settling benefits owed to retirees from the previous government. Alia, meanwhile, said his administration would continue monitoring its commitments to residents, stressing that political promises must ultimately translate into measurable improvements in people’s lives.
