Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and the leadership of the Middle Belt Forum have called for the postponement of the 2023 census until Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) in the North Central geopolitical zone are resettled.
Ortom made this call when he hosted the leadership of the Middle Belt Forum who were in the state to commiserate with him over the killing of over 134 persons in one week.
The attacks occurred in the Mgbam community in the Guma Local Government Area. The attacks were allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen in Apa, Otukpo and Guma areas of the state.
The leadership of the Middle Belt Forum commiserated with the governor and used the occasion to appeal to the National Population Commission to shift the census start date from May 3, 2023, an appeal that resonated with the governor.
According to Ortom, many lives have been lost to these attacks on benue communities in the last six years. He further explained that the state’s anti-grazing law subsists and will be enforced after a two-week of grace to allow herdsmen to exit the state.
