The Benue State government has countered the resolve of the federal government to conduct a national population census in May 2023.
According to the executive secretary of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Emmanuel Shior, it was necessary to shift the exercise so that many people would not be disenfranchised.
Shior said if the census goes ahead as planned, many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Benue and other states of the federation who are yet to return to their homes would not be captured.
He made the submission on Tuesday while addressing newsmen in Makurdi, the state capital.
He said: “We’re calling for suspension of the census for now because we suspect that if federal government continues, a lot of people will be left out as their homes and communities will not be captured.
There is a big challenge with that census that we are working out. Remember, the census is not only about counting human beings but their houses as well. So, the big challenge is that the people are displaced, they are in the camps,” he said.
The call from the SEMA boss comes a few days after the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom also made a similar appeal to the federal government.
We recall that Ortom, while playing host to a delegation from the Middle Belt Forum led by its President, Dr Bitrus Pogu, at Government House in Makurdi said many people of the state were in the IDP camps and would not be counted because they need to be in their localities before they can participate in the exercise.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said before any census is conducted, the federal government must ensure adequate security for the IDPs in Benue and elsewhere in the country to go back to their homes to be counted.
