At least 10,000 people who fled the Republic of Cameroon are now taking refuge in different camps in the Akwaya region of Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State.

The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Emmanuel Shior, on Saturday confirmed the development to newsmen in Makurdi as he stressed that the influx of the displaced persons from the neighboring country was already taking a toll on the state.

“It is a human catastrophe in which we are witnessing an influx of Cameroonians’ into Kwande villages. We have taken two trailer loads of relief materials to the people who have been put in two camps. The situation there is not really good because there are no access roads to the place. They are in the interior areas of Kwande LGA,” he said.

Shior noted that his attention was drawn to the emergency about two weeks ago after Governor Samuel Ortom got hints of the situation and made immediate contact with the Director General of NEMA in Abuja as well as ensured that the displaced people were adequately catered for.

The SEMA boss further intimated that some of the displaced were Tiv speaking natives who lived in Cameroon until violence broke out recently in the country while the vast majority were citizens of the troubled country, noting that they could speak well over 90 languages.

Source: Sahara Reporters