Indigenous Tiv communities in Nasarawa State have raised the alarm that their people in Kadarko, Keana local government area of the state were under siege as 25 villages of the area have been sacked by the herdsmen.
Some members of the affected villages who are now squatting with some of their kits and kin in Abuja accused the security agencies of selective protection.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, weekend, a group, under the umbrella of Concerned Indigenous Tiv People in Kadarko, Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, claimed that since the Tiv people were displaced from their ancestral home as a result of the alleged herdsmen attack since January 15, this year, Tanko Almakura, Nasarawa State governor, had done nothing to bring the situation under control.
The group further claimed that despite the fact that the military had been drafted to the affected areas, the police were not properly liaising with the military for the military to creditably discharge their duty to get to the terrorists that sacked the villages.
It further decried that despite the huge casualty of 12 persons killed and more than 30 persons hospitalised, the state government only released N500,000 for the burial of the dead and treatment of the hospitalised.
Dr. Benjamin Agbede, spokesperson of the group, who was flanked by other concerned Tiv indigenes, expressed worry that though the area was being inhabited by other ethnic nationalities like Alago, Eggon, Hausa, Igbo and others, Tiv people were allegedly selected target of the terrorists.
The group said: “As leaders of concerned indigenous people of Kadarko, under Keana local government area of Nasarawa State, we are concerned with the security challenges confronting us and have decided to draw the attention of all and sundry about the killings, maiming and other security issues as well as the activities of the Nasarawa State government and the security agencies; namely the police and the military personnel drafted to restore normalcy in the area.
“Since the outbreak of the crisis on the 15th January, this year, due to the Fulani/herdsmen attack on our villages, leading to the displacement of Tiv in their ancestral homes, the Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Almakura, has done very little to bring the situation under control.
As a father to all, he has not given the Tiv people any confidence that his government is willing and ready to protect them. This is because, his government has not provided the needed assistance in terns of providing food and the needed basic supplies to the displaced people who are now refugees in the R.C.M Primary School, Kadarko.”
- According to the group, “It is on record that the governor visited the area and saw the dead bodies on January 30, 2018, he merely directed that the corpses be buried by the families of the deceased without any form of assistance. ”We are shocked that a paltry sum of N500,000 only was made available to be shared by the families of those killed and those in different hospitals. This amount is a mere pittance as none of the families got anything reasonable considering the share number of people killed and those hospitalized.
“We are deeply worried that the area is inhabited by other ethnic nationalities like, Alago, Eggon, Hausa, Igbo and others, it was only the Tiv people that were selected target of the terrorists.”
