Hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Maga IDPs Camp in Mbayongo, on the outskirts of Makurdi, Benue State, on Wednesday barricaded the Makurdi-Lafia highway in protest over alleged lack of food and poor living conditions in their camp.

Naijaonpoint reports that the demonstrators, who wielded tree branches and chanted solidarity songs such as “We are hungry” and “We want to go back home”, disrupted traffic on the busy highway while calling on authorities to address their plight.

The protest erupted barely 24 hours after Nigeria’s First Lady, Remi Tinubu, visited Benue and announced a ₦1 billion donation for the welfare of displaced families in the state.

One of the protesters, Rebecca Awuse, told journalists that they took to the streets because they could no longer cope with hunger and poor treatment in the camp.

“We want to go back home. We are hungry and tired of staying in the camp where we are not being taken care of,” Awuse said.

Reacting to the incident, the Information Officer of the Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), Tema Ager, dismissed claims of starvation, alleging that the protest was politically motivated.

“The IDPs are not being starved. Government is providing food for them. Those IDPs in Yelewata usually abandon their camp and move to the camp in International Market in Makurdi because it is a recent camp and people have been trooping in there for food.

“Even when we take food to them there in Yelewata, they still come back to the International Market to collect more. The major issue that triggered this protest is politics, all because the First Lady visited yesterday and announced the donation of ₦1 billion,” Ager said.

Ager further explained that the money announced by the First Lady was meant for resettlement, not immediate food distribution.

“Some of them are protesting that they were given money and we have not shared it to them. What the First Lady announced yesterday cannot happen today, and the money is not for food but for resettlements,” he clarified.

On the frequency of food distribution, Ager added, “As we speak, food is being distributed to them. The last time food was distributed to the IDPs was in May this year, but currently food is being distributed to them across the state.”