Following the renewed hostilities between the Jukun and Tiv in Southern Taraba that have claimed nearly a 100 lives in the last two weeks, the member representing Takum/Ussa/Donga/Yangtu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rimande Shawulu, has called on all stakeholders and governments to work towards finding lasting solution to the crisis before the entire zone is completely ruined.
Shawulu, who spoke exclusively with BusinessDay in a phone interview at the weekend, said it was pure madness that despite the high level of intermarriage and religious uniformity in the region, the people had continued to kill and destroy themselves over reasons that were not even clear.
Though the Southern Taraba is enormously blessed with both human and natural resources like no other region in Nigeria, development has continued to elude the people because of incessant crisis, he said.
Shawulu said it had come to a point where blame trading and claiming of right was no longer fashionable, and urged religious bodies, civil society organisations, and all stakeholders to come to a roundtable and sincerely chart a new course for the good of the people and posterity.
“It is so sad, the news about the killings and destruction going on in Southern Taraba at the moment. The intermarriages in that area is so much and most of the people are also Christians. So, you really begin to wonder why we are doing what we are doing in that area. Fights only increase the problems that people have, not reduced them. If we can find a way of sitting on a sincere roundtable, and I mean all the groups in Southern Taraba, that would be the best thing that would happen to that area.
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“The area is no doubt one of the richest areas in the whole country. There is therefore the need for all of us who are stakeholders in the state to come together on a roundtable and talk about peace. It is very important and we need to do it and do it quickly too. And I hope and pray that this will happen soon. I do not want to go on the path of saying these people are right or wrong or just blame trading.
“There is no group that will not have its weaknesses and strength of argument. But it is this supposed strength in argument that is leading to the destruction of lives and property at this magnitude that we are experiencing. So, such arguments and justification that lead to the destruction of lives and villages cannot, in anyway whatsoever, contribute to the growth of the people. It is a very sad thing that is happening and the earlier it is stopped, the better for all of us,” he said.
It could be recalled that renewed attacks started over a week ago mostly in Donga Local Government Area between the Tiv and Jukun, in a series of ongoing hostilities, leading to the death of scores and destruction of several villages.
