Displaced Tiv Community in Taraba Calls on COAS for Help in Returning to Ancestral Homes Amid Alleged Land Occupation
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Tiv ethnic group in Taraba State have reached out to Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, seeking assistance to facilitate their return to their ancestral homes in Wukari local government area.
Expressing their plea through the Taraba Tiv Youth Progressive Mission (TTYPM) during a briefing with journalists in Jalingo on Saturday, the IDPs voiced concerns over the reported occupation of their ancestral lands by security personnel.
Speaking on behalf of the displaced community, spokesman Kaduna Fanen described their current situation as dire, highlighting that the security forces, expected to maintain neutrality, have instead taken control of the lands they fled due to ongoing crises.
“The security operatives have abandoned their ethical standard of fairness, occupying our destroyed homes and preventing us from returning home while they cultivate our ancestral lands,” they lamented.
“The security officers who are deployed to calm the situation took over the displaced homes and are farming freely on the graves of our ancestral fathers for over four years, thereby preventing us from returning home in the name that it is an order from above.”
The group who could not fathom why an order from above would prevent the IDPs from coming back to their homes, pleaded with the COAS to come to their aid and help them return home to farm.
“Let us not be made to believe that the security officers stationed in our displaced villages from Wukari to Jootar, Wukari to Rafinkada, Wukari to Ibi and Wukari to Tsukundi are working hand in hand with the enemies who are trying to exterminate us from our ancestral homes.
“Our understanding is that they should facilitate our safe return if they are deployed in our places for good.
“We are worried over this horrible situation. It is more worrisome that the Executive Governor of Taraba State, His Excellency Dr Agbu Kefas whom we have so much confidence in, has continued to maintain a golden silence over the killings of our brothers who have been attempting to return home.
“We want to appeal to the governor to look at our old parents, the future of our younger ones and the children with the eyes of a man of God. We appeal that he look at us as human beings who were also created by God for a purpose and scheme up workable and concrete ways to resettle our displaced persons and also stop the reckless killings in his home.”
They also called on well to do individuals within and outside the state to come to their aid and help in addressing the present situation.
The Taraba State Police Command, when contacted, denied knowledge of the allegation, stating that it had not received any report of its officers farming in any of the crisis affected areas.
