Abuja: The former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, has donated relief materials to victims of recent attacks in the Yelwata community.
Mr Austin Williams, a member of Brookfield Chambers, Maitama, in a statement, said Waziri donated the relief materials to displaced persons at a camp in Makurdi.
She made the donation under the banner of Women, Youth, Children and Crime Organisation (WYCCO), a Non-Governmental Organisation founded by Waziri.
Items donated included bags of rice, sugar, tubers of yam, and other household essentials aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the affected families.
Waziri, a Principal Partner at Brookfield Chambers, Abuja, also called on former governors, legislators, and traditional rulers in Benue to unite against insecurity, urging other stakeholders in the state to come together urgently to end the incessant attacks and killings across the state.
“This is no time for division; no time for political squabbling or ego-driven manoeuvring.
“Among us are men and women who have led this state, former governors, legislators, traditional rulers, individuals with influence and authority.
“The time has come to set aside our differences and stand united for the sake of the ordinary Benue man, woman, and child,” she said.
Waziri warned that the continuous violence that resembled a coordinated effort to erase the people and their heritage needed collective action to stop it.
She said her call aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s earlier message during his visit to Benue, insisting that peace meetings alone would not suffice.
“Peace will not come from meetings alone. To end the cycle of violence, we must confront its roots.
“Communities in Gwer West, Apa, and Guma had already experienced weeks of killings, kidnappings, and raids before the Yelwata massacre.
“These horrors did not emerge in a vacuum; they are symptoms of deeper issues,” she said.
Waziri, however, identified ethnic and religious tensions, unchecked banditry, cultism, and drug abuse as root causes of the crisis, alongside the herder-farmer conflict.
She said: “There is no room for blame games; our leaders, and indeed, all of us, must be pragmatic.
“Let us commit, as one people, to healing our wounds, reclaiming our land, ensuring that never again will a Benue child grow up in a camp instead of a home.”
The retired AIG, therefore, urged all Benue sons and daughters, at home and in the diaspora, to show concern and be part of finding solutions to the crisis.