Indications emerged at the weekend that over 5000 internally displaced persons as a result of clashes between Fulani herdsmen and natives have returned to their ancestral homes in Benue State following intervention of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee headed by retired Brigadier General John Atom Kpera.
The committee was set up at the instance of the Benue State government to mediate into the Fulani and natives crisis in the state.
The establishment of the peace initiative has paid off as places which were worst hit by the crisis leading to abandonment of their ancestral homes like Ortese in Guma and other trouble spots like Agatu, Logo and other areas have since returned en masse.
There is however reported cases of scores of silent killings and rape of teenage girls by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Only last week, there was a case of rape by Fulani of a Tiv teenage girl in Daudu, a matter that was reported the police but it was later withdrawn and resolved by the concerned parties.
When contacted, chairman of the Peace building and Reconciliation committee, Brigadier General John Atom Kpera (rtd) stated that the committee had done all it could within the ambit of the law to restore peace between the natives and Fulani herdsmen in the state.
He declined to entertain further questions on the matter.
Speaking in similar vein, the State Secretary of Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Adikpo Agbatse, in a chat with Newsmen in Makurdi did not disclose the exact number of displaced persons that have returned to their places of abode so far.
