Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortomm, has asked the Federal Government to postpone the national population census until all internally displaced persons return to their communities.
Ortom made the call when he received a delegation from the Middle Belt Forum led by its President, Dr Bitrus Pogu.
But responding to the call for census postponement, the National Population Commission said it was ready for the exercise scheduled to hold between May 3 and May 5, adding that people in the IDP camps would be counted.
Ortom, while receiving the MBF delegation, explained that his call for a postponement was hinged on a large number of people of the state that were still in the IDP camps and who might not be counted because they needed to be in their communities before they could participate in the exercise.
He said, “I want to say that the Federal Government should suspend the issue of the census because it looks like the proposed census is coming with an agenda.
“The census should be suspended until the FG is able to restore security and all our IDPs go back to their ancestral lands to give all of them opportunities to be counted in the homes of birth.
“I understand from the National Population Commission that those to be counted must be counted in their localities.
While decrying the sustained attacks on Benue communities by herdsmen, he said more than 6,000 people had died and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
The governor regretted that Federal Government had done little to help.
“In Benue State alone we have lost over 6,000 people. In the last few days alone, over 131 persons were killed and we are still counting because others are in the hospital.”
Despite the incessant unprovoked attacks and loss of lives, the governor assured that Benue people would remain law-abiding citizens, saying, “Our people believe in Nigeria and have worked for the unity of the country.’
Speaking earlier, the President of the Middle Belt Forum, Pogu, urged the Federal Government to suspend the census because he believed that the exercise “was coming with a hidden agenda.”
When asked to respond to calls for the shifting of the census so that IDPs could go back to their communities, the NPC spokesperson, Isiaka Yahaya, said the commission was prepared for the exercise scheduled to start on May 3.
Yahaya noted “It ( the concern about IDPs) is a misunderstanding of the census process. The fact that the IDPs are not in their states does not mean that they will not be counted. Wherever they are, as long as the camp was demarcated, they would be counted.
“But then, there is a provision for their usual place of residence. They are not going to lose anything as IDPs, particularly if they are in Nigeria. In any case, most of the Benue IDPs are in Benue State.
“The NPC is prepared for the census. We are working round the clock to ensure that all possible itches are removed and that all the personnel and equipment to be used during the census are in proper shape.”
On his part, the Zamfara State Commissioner of Security, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mamman Tsafe, (retd.), said the census would be held in the state as scheduled despite insecurity challenges.
Tsafe, who spoke to PUNCH on phone said, the state had never called for the suspension of the census because of insecurity.
He said the state government in collaboration with the state office of the NPC was working to ensure a hitch-free census despite the insecurity challenges affecting the state.
“We are not calling for the suspension of the 2023 census and we are ready to be counted despite the insecurity challenges”.
“The state office of the National Population Commission is working with the security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the 2023 census.”
Also, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Manir Dan’Iya, said
the state was ready to ensure a free and credible population census.
The deputy governor stated this while inaugurating the publicity committee of the 2023 population census in the state.
He said, “Sokoto State Government has invested heavily in human capital development, social infrastructure, agricultural development and other socioeconomic activities.
‘’ People need to know that census goes beyond knowing population and geographic identification with information on sex, education, health, employment and migration status.
‘’ Nigeria’s population with housing evaluation will no doubt put value to the data that will be used for human development and planning in all sectors,’’ Dan’iya said.
But the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union supported the call for the suspension of the census until all internally displaced persons returned to their ancestral homes.
Luka Binniyat, Spokesman for the SOKAPU, an umbrella Union of the Southern Kaduna people, said anything short of suspending the forthcoming head counts, would amount to undercounting the Southern Kaduna indigenes.
Backing the call for the suspension of the census by Ortom, the SOKAPU spokesman insisted that the head counts be shifted until normalcy was restored and most IDPs returned to their homes.
He said, “We have an estimated 500,000 persons who have been displaced from 245 communities in some of the 12 local government areas of Southern Kaduna.
“Most of these communities are either totally deserted or are occupied by bandits and militia who sacked them.
“No less than 5000sqkm of Southern Kaduna lands are under such occupation. This is larger than Lagos State or even Imo State. Since these lands have been under illegal occupation, we do not know if the area demarcation of the NPC captured them.
“If it did, then it will be that the outlaws will be counted and documented as the owners of these communities. If they were not captured, it will also invariably mean that Southern Kaduna will be undercounted.
“So in this light, SOKAPU supports the cancellation of the census until normalcy is reasonably attained and most IDPs return to their homes.
“Failure to stop this census this year will be interpreted that the Federal Government and Kaduna State Government have deliberately allowed this violence to fester so that a new demography will be obtained in which Southern Kaduna will be undercounted and with a new high Fulani population.’’
