 A group of internally displaced persons, mostly women, are protesting against what they call alleged plots to disenfranchise them from the 2023 housing and population census following their displacement in 2018 from their ancestral homes, which is now being occupied by suspended headsmen. Leader of the protesting IDPs, Ladi Tayogh, while presenting their protest letter to the acting state director of the National Population Commission, says they want to be resettled into their communities and be counted as well as their houses counted. The group is requesting a postponement of the census until they are properly resettled. In response, the acting state director of the National Population Commission, Makode office Chris Nenge assured them of being part of the process as they have no reason to worry about marginalisation. At about 11am, a crowd of internally displaced persons from the Abagana and Mbawa IDP camps eat the streets of Makode to protest against an alleged plot to disenfranchise them from the 2023 national population census. From Bakone Junction along Otukwo Road, the protesters march down to the NPC Makode office to register their complaint as they chant songs. After a long wait, the acting state director joins the women and takes delivery of their protest letter after they exchange views on the matter. The commission has taken measures to attach everybody to the society, to the locality that comes from, to attach everybody to the local government that he or she comes from, and by extension to attach every IDP to the states that she comes from. So be mindful that the commission has taken charge to take this kind of misgivings. So be rest assured that even if the census is conducted and you are still with BAM, we will trace you to where you come from. However, a public policy analyst who believes the IDPs need more assurance beyond the solution contained in the NPC questionnaire says the victims have been displaced for long and have lost both their homes and loved ones, as they need to reset to them by the federal government before the population census. It's to call on the federal government to postpone the exercise until all issues around the census are addressed. Number one, these women have legitimate concerns. They have been living peacefully in their communities until armed attackers started attacking them. I've read some of their stories, I've heard some of their stories and they agree some, right? Some of them people killed and they have been run out of their communities several years in the IDPs. Unfortunately, the federal government is unable to offer them protection. That's not... From the look of things, it appears the federal government has taken steps to address the affairs of this enfranchisement, but the problem of lost communities to armed auntsmen who now occupy their homes remain a valid concern going into the population census. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.