The Federal Government, on Wednesday, said over 4,800 persons were displaced after recent attacks by bandits in Garga District of Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Five communities, including Kyaram, Gyambau, Dungur, Kukawa and Shuwaka villages, under Garga District were attacked by bandits, who killed scores of residents during the mayhem.
Reacting, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, condemned the attacks on the communities, describing them as satanic.
In a statement issued in Abuja by her media aide, Nneka Anibeze, the minister said the mayhem unleashed on innocent citizens, especially during the Ramadan fast, was evil.
The statement stated that the National Emergency Management Agency under the humanitarian ministry, accompanied by the State Emergency Management Agency, Joint Military Task Force, among others, were already in the state to ascertain the level of destruction and advise the government appropriately.
It stated that the Coordinator, NEMA North Central Zonal Office, Jos, Eugene Nyelong, who led the team, confirmed that profiling and assessment of victims had begun.
The statement read in part, “According to Nyelong, the assessment which commenced on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, revealed the loss of many lives and the destruction of properties.
“The number of Internally Displaced Persons is said to be over 4,800, comprising mostly women and children.”
It stated that the local government health department, through the dispensary in Garga town, was, however, offering skeletal medical support to the displaced persons.
The ministry stated that the Director-General, NEMA, Ahmed Habib, was working on the prompt delivery of emergency humanitarian support ahead of full intervention.
This, it said, was based on the directives of the humanitarian minister, who ordered the immediate deployment of relief materials including food, water, blankets and sleeping nets to the displaced victims.
The ministry stated that the displaced persons were currently seeking refuge in Garga Central Primary School in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau.
It noted that the relief materials were currently being moved to Plateau to be delivered to the victims, adding that the minister had sympathised with the affected residents.
