NSCDC: Taraba commandant calls for dialogue to end Tiv/Jukun crisis
Jethro Yerga, Jalingo
The commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC)), Taraba State Command, Edwin Egwuja has called on the warring Tiv and Jukun tribes, especially of Wukari Local Government Area, to embrace honest dialogue in order to end what he termed a long standing crisis.
The commandant made this call in Jalingo while fielding questions from journalists on the recent break through the command has made in the recent times.
He stated that crisis anywhere does not profit any one, as such there was every need for both Tiv and Jukun tribes to shun blame game and embrace honest dialogue in order to end the crisis.
“The Tiv/Jukun crisis is a long standing issue. During my master program in the university, I wrote about this crisis. which means it has been there for long and not until they get to the root of the matter, their problem may not be solved.
“It is not the issue of accusing each other or fighting each other and pointing accusing fingers on security operatives. Let the parties go back to the drawing board and engage in honest dialogue. This is the best way to resolve that problem”. He stated
Egwuja debunked allegations making around that Security Operatives have connived with Wukari Local Government Council Boss, Hon. Daniel Adi to evict the Tiv people in Wukari Local Government, emphasizing that “no trained security operative will ever connive with anybody or any party to prevent another party from gaining access to their land”.
On the recent feat attained by the command in the recent time, the commandant said the command had in the previous day, paraded two separate groups of suspected criminals at the state command’s premises.
He explained that the first group was a gang of six who specialize in robbery. According to him, four members of the gang where arrested around Rubby when very early in the morning, they accosted one young man, who was going about his lawful business, machete him and carted away with his whooping some of N480,000 under duress.
He said the four suspects of the gang arrested had been paraded, while operatives have been sent to search for the other members who are at large.
He said the command had also paraded one Usman Adamu, age 31, who was caught vandalizing electrical installations. According to him, the suspect had succeeded in vandalizing the feeder pillars and the cables but luck ran out of him as he was arrested with his motorcycle and the equipment he used in performing his dubious activities.
“When we got him here, he mentioned one Isa Garba, age 28, and Babayo Ali Bassi, age 27 as some of the people he sells those items to them. We have brought all of them here in our office and they are all undergoing interrogation”. He stated.
The commandant who called on the general public to continue to report any suspicious movement around their vicinity to security agencies, revealed that the Taraba State Command of the NSCDC, with the help of the State Government and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, would soon launch its Agro Rangers Base Stations to enable the command effectively handle the case of Farmers/Herders clashes and other security challenges.
