Taraba crisis raises more questions than answers – Speaker

What do you think is the genesis of the current crisis which started in your zone and appears to be spreading to other parts of the State?Like you rightly pointed out the crisis started in the southern part of Taraba State and is now spreading to parts of the central zone particularly Gassol and parts […]

What do you think is the genesis of the current crisis which started in your zone and appears to be spreading to other parts of the State?
Like you rightly pointed out the crisis started in the southern part of Taraba State and is now spreading to parts of the central zone particularly Gassol and parts of Bali local government areas. One would imagine why this crisis at this time when all attention is focused on preparations for the political journey towards 2015.
Honestly speaking one gets very worried because of the dimension which the crisis has taken. It started like Tiv farmers/Fulani herdsmen crisis but later degenerated to a sort of tribal crisis in Wukari and despite the fact that peace agreements were signed there were continuous attacks on a particular tribe, especially the Tiv people in Gassol and Bali local government areas. So one wonders what the rationale behind this current crisis is because a lot of questions have been raised than the answers.
I strongly believe there are a lot of things to look at in evaluating the crisis because there are a lot of issues associated with the whole thing. In Bali Local Government Area for instance, there was this fateful day that the acting governor was going to meet with his Benue State counterpart (Gabriel Suswam) at Kashimbilla following an attack that was carried out previously.
Surprisingly one of the suspects that were arrested invariably belonged to one of the tribes but was wearing Fulani clothes and upon cross examination we were made to understand that he was not a Fulani man. That leaves a lot of questions as to the real motive behind the crisis.
Like I earlier pointed out there are issues that when you sit down and analyze  you would come to the conclusion that it is neither a tribal, religious nor religious crisis; it looks like a problem that was brewing for some time and waiting for when to explode.

People have observed that the Fulani herdsmen involved in this crisis are not the local ones that are known within the communities in the state and this tends to give rise to the theory that insurgents from the north-east have been brought to take part in this crisis. What is your take?
I tend to share in that belief because despite the fact that this crisis bothers on the issue of security it is still proper to put some of these records straight. In one of our security meetings the leaders of the Fulani did confess that they hired some people to come and help them in the fight. There is what the Fulani people refer to as sharing of Kola; which they perform to invite their colleagues from other parts to come and assist them during war.
Therefore during the meeting, they confessed that they shared Kola to some of their people outside Taraba to come and help them and I want to believe that is true because if you look at the number of Fulani that attacked Nwukyon village in Jibu ward of Wukari LGA you will completely agree with the fact that they were hired people from other parts of the country.
Even the attack that was carried out on Ando Yaku in Chinkai district of Wukari also showed that they were not the local herdsmen. They were wearing uniforms and carrying sophisticated weapons and the level at which they operated these weapons clearly showed that they are well trained people in the art of firing. Added to this is that they came in large numbers; for instance the people that came to attack Nwukyon were over three hundred and it was a sort of coordinated attack. They came with a vehicle that was conveying ammunition; they were firing and refilling their rifles.
They killed and those of them that were killed they picked their corpses back into their vehicles and moved. The same obtained in the attack on Ando Yaku; it was a coordinated attack where twenty six people were killed. The insurgents came in uniforms and that goes to confirm the fact that the fight was not carried out by local Fulani who co-existed with the people of those areas for a very long period.
Therefore it is very true that there could be elements of Boko Haram and it is equally very true that they were hired by some people to come and carry out these attacks and for whatever reason only God knows.

You said it started between the Tiv farmers and Fulani herdsmen; at what point were the Jukun involved?
The Jukuns were involved when the attack on Nwukyon was going on. There was a sort of cry for help from the Jukuns of Wukari who felt their kit and kin were being attacked in the village. Some of the Jukun from Wukari went there to give a helping hand and unfortunately two, three or four of them were killed in that attack and when their corpses were brought to Wukari that actually triggered the tension leading to outbreak of violence in the town.
It is quite unfortunate that the violence came into Wukari town which some of us least expected because we thought it was an attack that was being carried out in the outskirts of Wukari and there was no basis for it to come into the town. Nevertheless we are working round the clock to see that peace returns to Wukari.

What impact would you say the current crisis has brought to bear on the area and the state in general?
In terms of losses I would want to say it is rather unfortunate that so many lives and property have been lost. At the moment I can tell you that the economic well- being of the people has been adversely affected. You can imagine a community of about two or three hundred people where over twenty people were killed; you can imagine the entire village being razed down. Imagine a situation whereby it took somebody a very long time to put up an investment in the village and within the twinkle of an eye the investment is brought to ashes. I want to tell you that I have been personally affected and feel very sad over the extent of damage that has been inflicted on my constituents.
My only consolation lies in the steps taken by the Taraba State government to address the issues involved especially the peace agreement that was signed in Wukari sometime last month which the government also made a commitment to assist those that suffer losses during the crisis and to ensure that those that deserted their homes are brought back.
Government is also determined to ensure that security is provided for the returnees. I also want to point out the fact that it is very worrisome that some of the houses deserted by my Tiv brothers are being occupied by the herdsmen.
You find them freely moving around the deserted places with their cattle without questions being raised. The security apparatus have to step up efforts to ensure that the fleeing farmers return to their places of abode without any form of intimidation and government should as a matter of urgency do everything possible to provide security for the returnees.

I am aware that several peace agreement were signed but violated by some of the parties involved…?
This was one of the concerns I raised earlier that I am really bothered that despite the peace agreements a section of the tribes were still going round killing people and burning houses.
I personally raised that issue with the chairman of the peace committee set up by the Taraba State government to monitor the peace agreement and he assured me that something was being done to address that problem. Beyond that it is also very important for security operatives to step up efforts at ensuring that the peace agreements are respected.
One other thing I discussed with the chairman of the committee is the fact that the publicity of the contents of the peace agreement is not being widely publicized.
Maybe as is being speculated in some quarters that due to certain reasons behind the crisis that may be a reason why the peace agreement is not being implemented to the latter. I don’t really subscribe to that school of thought because I do know that the government is working hard to ensure the return of peace.