Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has today asked the Federal Government to suspend the conduct of the National Population Census until all Internally Displaced Persons return to their ancestral homes.
Ortom made the announcement after welcoming a Middle Belt Forum delegation, led by Dr Bitrus Pogu, to the audience.
According to Ortom, many residents of the state were still living in IDP camps and may not have been included in the census because they must first be in their native communities in order to take part in the process.
His words: “I want to say that the Federal Government should suspend the issue of the census because it looks like the proposed census is coming with an agenda.
“So until they are able to restore security and all our IDPs go back to their ancestral lands to give all of them opportunities to be counted in the homes of birth.
“Because I understand from the National Population Commission that those to be counted must be counted in their localities.
“There was so much injustice, bias and tribalism” going on in the country that both the leaders and the people were expected to correct it before the country could move forward.”
