Twenty survivors of the August 16 attack on Mbaterem community in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State have received medical and financial assistance from a United States-based humanitarian organisation, Equipping The Persecuted.
The intervention, approved by the organisation’s Founder and Executive Director, Judd Saul, was carried out by an ETP team led by Mike Odeh James at three medical facilities in Zaki-Biam and Kyado.
The beneficiaries received assistance with hospital bills, financial support for victims with severe injuries and burial expenses for a family that lost a relative in the attack.
At St Anthony’s Hospital, Zaki-Biam, the organisation cleared the medical bills of eight victims receiving treatment.
Two of the patients had lost a hand each in the attack, while a young woman was recovering from injuries sustained during the incident in which her father and younger brother were killed.
The organisation also gave additional financial assistance to some of the critically injured victims to enable them to continue their treatment. It equally supported the son of the late James Utsev with funds to purchase his father’s coffin.
The team later travelled about 28 kilometres to the forested Kyado area, where it settled the medical bills of 10 more victims at Tyav Medicare Services.
Two of the survivors at the facility had lost both hands and were left with permanent disabilities. Another beneficiary, a young girl who had been discharged, remained at the hospital because her family could not afford her bill. ETP settled the debt, enabling her to leave the facility.
The intervention ended at Erdoo Clinic, Kyado, where the organisation paid the bills of an 80-year-old woman and her 32-year-old son, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 20.
Beyond the financial burden of medical treatment, the survivors are also dealing with permanent injuries, bereavement and the loss of sources of livelihood following the attack.
ETP’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Franc Utoo, said the organisation remained committed to supporting victims even after they had survived violent attacks.
“Judd Saul has ordered that all victims of terror attacks in Zaki-Biam, Otukpo Nobi, Akpachi and Efeyi be attended to,” Utoo said.
He also urged the Benue State Government to make the return of internally displaced persons to their ancestral communities a priority, arguing that resettlement should receive greater attention than debates over ranching.
For the affected residents, the ETP intervention has eased the immediate financial pressure associated with medical treatment and burial expenses, even as many survivors face the longer-term challenge of rebuilding their lives after the attack.
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