It could be recalled sometime last year that an Abuja division of the Federal High Court made an interim order freezing the bank account of the Benue State Government, due to the inability to pay back an N333 million loan secured in 2008.

Court order unfreezing of  Benue accounts.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, yesterday at the Federal High Court Abuja, gave an order for the unfreezing of all accounts belonging to the Benue State Government except for a Zenith account. The order was given after the adoption of the Memorandum of Undertaking by lawyers representing the parties on the case.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, ordered the Zenith Bank with account No. 1013470079 designated as Benue Government Ecological Account to remain as is in the sum of the debated debt; while the interim order of the court is pending the determination of the case. The case has been adjourned by the judge to March 2 for a report in regards to the order.

“Pursuant to discussions and agreement by the parties, all other accounts of the Benue government frozen by this court vide interim order of Oct. 26, 2021 are to be unfrozen while Account No. 1013470079 with Zenith Bank Plc, designated Benue Government Ecological Account shall remain frozen in the sum of the disputed debt, pending the determination or resolution of the dispute”.

It must be noted that the frozen account as affected the growth of the state in some many ways. One hopes the case will be sorted in the next sitting.

“Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state derives its name from the Benue River which is the second largest river in Nigeria. The state borders Nasarawa State to the North; Taraba State to the East; Kogi State to the West; Enugu State to the South-West; Ebonyi and Cross-Rivers States to the South; and has an international border with Cameroon to the South-East.

It is inhabited predominantly by the Tiv, Idoma, Igede and Etulo peoples. Its capital is Makurdi. Benue is a rich agricultural region; popularly grown crops include: oranges, mangoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, soya bean, guinea corn, flax, yams, sesame, rice, groundnuts, and Palm Tree.

Benue State as it exists today is a surviving legacy of an administrative entity that was carved out of the protectorate of northern Nigeria at the beginning of the twentieth century. The territory was initially known as Munshi Province until 1918 when the name of its dominant geographical feature, the ‘Benue River’ was adopted”. This section is culled from WIKIPEDIA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benue_State