Ebonyi to seek national assembly, NBC’s cooperation to relocate citizens in Benue

Ebony State Government has expressed the will to seek the co-operation of the National Assembly and the National Boundary Commission (NBC) for the relocation of its citizen wrongly located as Benue State people.

Reacting to allegations of cooperation issues between states and security agencies, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji, emphasised that every state should take care of its citizens irrespective of their ethnicity.

He spoke specifically about a recent viral video following an attack in Benue State where persons assumed to be from Ebonyi State lamented that they alerted the state security before the attack but didn’t receive any help.

The commissioner said: “Ordinarily, the issue of lives and security is the duty of Benue State Government, but where cooperation lies in the fact that when they (Ebonyi people) have a problem, Ebonyi State will always ask questions. So we’ll always interface or engage the government of Benue State to ensure that our people are taking care of. But come to think of it, it is the responsibility of every government to take care of the people in its state, whether they are indigenes or not.

“Whether they are there by any circumstance of creation of state or by whatever means, you are meant to take care of the people within the confines of your state, even if it’s a disputed place. In so far as the record is in your favour, you still need to take care of lives or otherwise stated. No matter the discouragement that greeted some of our people in the face of those security challenges, we need to continue to do our best to give information to security agencies whenever there is any problem.”

He, however, stated that the government is looking at the constitution amendment process to “see how opportunities can be given to the people through referendum to go to any place of their choice, especially where they have their descendants. This may augur well for the people who have situations like that of the Ebonyi people in Benue State.”

In the past few months, communal clashes and violent attacks have rocked the state and other parts of the South-east, but Orji assured the people that peace has been restored in the state and that Ebubeagu and other vigilante groups in the region are doing their best to maintain peace and order in the state.

“When people say that they want a true federalism system, and you are still talking about the independence of the local government system, that is not true federalism. We want the kind of restructuring whereby the judiciary should also be given an independent environment and the necessary funding. In Ebonyi State, we are giving the House of Assembly and the judiciary a level playing ground. The governor releases whatever is due to them to the two arms of government,” he stated. (Courtesy, THISDAY)