Anxiety In Benue As LG Chair Stops Thanksgiving Service In Honour Of Akume
From PAULINE PODKA, Abuja
The sudden suspension of a thanksgiving church service organized in honour of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), by the Caretaker Chairman of Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, Unongu Simon, is causing tension in the state.
The thanksgiving service was scheduled to hold on Sunday, and was to be followed by a grand reception for the SGF.
In a statewide radio announcement, Guma Council Caretaker Chairman, Unongo, directed the NKST Church, Daudu, which was to host the event, to put it on hold for security reasons.
Unongo advised that anyone who wished to organize any form of public function in the area must get official approval from his office.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the event said they would proceed with the thanksgiving service as planned and insisted nobody can stop them.
A member of the Central Planning Committee of the church service, Lazarus Asema, said, “The venue and time for the church service remain NKST Church Daudu and it also remains unchanged.”
The host community, Daudu is close to Makurdi, the Benue State capital and is home to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp, occasioned by herdsmen attacks on farming communities.