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The Benue State Government has announced the arrest of 50 individuals posing as internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the International Market along George Akume Way in Makurdi, the state capital.
The State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Aondowase Kunde, made this revelation on Saturday in Makurdi.
Kunde noted that criminals had infiltrated the camp established for victims of the Yelwata attack.
He reported that 50 impostors were apprehended, revealing that residents from the host community and market vendors had entered the camp.
On Friday night, these criminals reportedly broke into the camp, stealing various non-food items, and market women also entered to purchase food distributed to the IDPs.
He stated, "We've faced challenges in the camp for the last two days and uncovered many infiltrators. After the protest, we conducted inquiries and found that both criminals and local residents in Makurdi were responsible for it.
Therefore, we decided to be present at the camp by 4 a.m.on Saturday to identify these criminals and found that they accessed the camp by stealing mattresses through a broken fence.
We also noted that some market women had begun visiting the camp to purchase rice and food provided to the displaced persons.
Additionally, it was discovered that some women, claiming to be lactating mothers, borrowed babies from outside to gain entry into the camp, hoping to be prioritized since the first group we assisted included pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Upon requesting these so-called lactating mothers to breastfeed their babies, it became evident that no milk was present."
