Latest Benue News today, Friday September 2, 2022

1. Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to repair his “battered image” by addressing the security challenges of the country.

In a statement on Thursday, Nathaniel Ikyur, chief press secretary to Ortom, quoted the governor as saying that any time he speaks about how bad the security situation is in the country, Buhari’s aides attack him.

2. Victims Support Fund (VSF) has carried out the fourth round of distribution of food items to people displaced by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nzaav, Kendev, Moor and Mbamar communities in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

Presenting the items, which included Garri, rice, soya beans, vegetable oil, salt, and palm oil last Monday at Jato-Aka in Kwande LGA, the VSF Chairperson, Toyosi Ogunsinji Akerele, said 21 out of the 23 LGAs in Benue State have been overrun by crises, making farming activities difficult for a lot of people in the state, even though as an agrarian state, the people are not able to farm, it is difficult for them to survive hence VSF relentless intervention.

3. Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) on Thursday, commenced a 3-day training of 646 beneficiaries under the Youth Transformation Programme across the three Senatorial Districts in Benue State.

Addressing the beneficiaries during an orientation organized for them in Makurdi the state capital, Managing Director of HYPPADEC, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq-Yelwa who was represented by the Director, Engineering and Technical Services, Dr Daniel Ipilakyaa enjoined the trainees to take advantage of the programme to better their lives.

4. Iorapuu made the remark while answering questions from some journalists in Makurdi on Thursday about the fate of undergraduates following the prolonged ASUU strike.

The Vice Chancellor of Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, Prof. Joe Iorapuu, has said that the six months old ongoing strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) across the country is already affecting the mental health of students.

5. Benue State Police Command said it has arrested over 40 suspected armed robbers, kidnappers, murderers and cultists recovering arms and ammunition from them. Commissioner of Police, Mr Wale Abass, said the command had encounters with the hoodlums terrorising the residents:

“The hoodlums usually come from the neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Plateau and Cross River. The command redeployed intelligence officers to the flash points resulting in their arrest.

6. An Abuja based legal practitioner, Barrister NAPOLEON OTACHE has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, the National Human Rights Commission, The PRESIDENCY, The National Assembly and other numerous agencies over the indefinite detention of a 43 years old BENUE man, Bernard Ogbu.

Mr Bernard Ogbu has been languishing in the custody of the policemen of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, for over three years without trial or bail.