APC chieftain calls for ceasefire in Benue communal crisis

APC chieftain calls for ceasefire in Benue communal crisis.

An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Mr Patrick Hyua, has called for the immediate ceasefire in the ongoing communal crisis between Mbasombo and Mbaviur communities in Gwer East Local Government Area Benue.

In a statement signed by Hyua on Thursday in Makurdi, he called for the deployment of more security personnel to the area.

He also called for the immediate cease fire by the two communities and sued for a peaceful round table discussion to end the crisis.

“I am greatly pained that these two communities, which should live in harmony and communion as kith and kin, have engaged in a death struggle attracting the scorn and derision of the watching world.

“The two warring communities have been at loggerheads over disputed lands. The quantum of destruction and havoc wreaked since the crisis began this time could best be imagined.

“But even the previous bouts of attacks, prior to those in the recent days, had a lot of property destroyed, houses burnt down and countless people displaced and rendered homeless,” he said.

He called on the authorities; local, state and federal to treat the conflict with the seriousness it deserved.

The crisis between Mbasombo and Mbaviur communities have been lingering for years, resulting in massive destruction of lives and property”, he observed.