A former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico and High Commissioner to Canada, Iyorwuese Hagher, on Thursday, criticised the Benue State Government’s reported plan to establish a rehabilitation centre for bandits, describing it as a misplaced priority.

He accused the government of prioritising banditry over traumatised communities, urging the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the area and deploy adequate security.

Hagher disclosed this in Abuja, during a press briefing, where he described a prolonged humanitarian crisis affecting the Sankera region, comprising Katsina-Ala, Logo and Ukum local government areas of Benue State.

He presented documented evidence highlighting widespread displacement, destruction of communities and civilian suffering allegedly experienced in the region for over a decade, while calling for urgent intervention at national, regional and international levels.

He said that any initiative aimed at rehabilitating bandits without first ensuring justice for victims or facilitating the safe return of displaced persons risks legitimising criminality and politicising insecurity.

He said: “For too long, those in power have denied the existence of these crimes against humanity and instead appear to support mass killings of our people and sympathise with terrorists.

“The recent request by the

Benue State Government for federal government approval to establish a centre specifically for the rehabilitation of bandits, without first returning the displaced victims to their homes or meting out justice in accordance with the law, normalises criminality and weaponises politics, seemingly curating and deploying bandits for political purposes.”

According to him, a sustained campaign of attacks, displacement and destruction had produced one of the most severe humanitarian crises in contemporary Africa yet remained dangerously under-reported.

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Hagher accused the state government of denial and silence, alleging that substantial security votes were deployed to conceal the scale of suffering in affected communities, actions he said contradicted Nigeria’s obligations under international law.

Drawing a contrast with federal efforts, the former envoy noted that while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was working with international partners to support victims of terrorism, the state government appeared eager to accommodate armed groups that had neither disarmed nor reconciled with their victims.

He said the state government had prioritised banditry over traumatised communities, adding, “The Sankera genocide is dangerously under-reported. The State government has deployed its substantial financial security vote to conceal and deny the suffering of the Sankera people. By doing so, the State government bears criminal liability for genocide denial and for protecting the perpetrators.”

He alleged that displacement had spread across several parts of Benue State, including Gwer West, Gwer East, Guma and Agatu Local Government Areas, and described the devastation in Kwande and border communities near Cameroon as worsening due to alleged occupation by armed groups.

He maintained that sustained attacks, displacement and destruction across the Sankera axis had produced what he described as one of the most severe yet under-reported humanitarian crises in contemporary Africa.

He also advocated the establishment of an independent judicial peace and reconciliation commission to investigate alleged atrocities and ensure accountability.

He also appealed to the African Union and ECOWAS to conduct independent fact-finding missions and asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to urgently review the situation. (The Guardian)