There have been claims and counterclaims over recent killings in Taraba State following a communal clash between the Ichen and Tiv people of Donga local government area of the state.
The Deputy Senate minority leader and senator representing Taraba south at the national assembly Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha claimed that 18 of his tribal people (Ichen) were killed on Saturday and Sunday in their villages by Tiv militia groups.
While the President General of Tiv Cultural and Social Association Goodman Dahida said the Ichen people killed 31 Tiv people while they were at the Maraba market for commercial activities.
The Tiv leader in a press statement in Jalingo, Taraba State condemned in strong terms the wanton destruction of lives and property occasioned by the crisis between Ichen and Tiv in Mararaba axis of Donga Local Government Area of Taraba state.
“It is sad that a land dispute that could ordinarily be resolved by local village heads of the two tribes was hijacked by hoodlums leading to the massacre of over 31 Tiv persons and destruction of valuable properties worth millions of naira”
“To put the record straight, Mr. Mernyi Chivir Haka (a Tiv man) had a land dispute with an Ichen man and on Thursday, April 30, 2020, Mernyi was on the farm with his children when they were attacked by Ichen youths. Mernyi was badly wounded and one of the Ichen attackers was also killed in the fight”
“The Ichen youth then proceeded to Mararaba and the neighbouring Tiv villages and started killing any Tiv man in sight. Unfortunately, the incident happened on Mararaba Market day and many of the innocent Tiv villagers who were in the market without knowledge of what had happened in Gidan Adamu located over 20 kilometers away from Mararraba were killed in cold blood”
The press statement also accused Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha of not making any condemnation since the clash between the two tribes who are directly under his political control.
“While we commend the effort of the state government and security agencies in the crisis so far, we are shocked and saddened that Senator Emmanuel Bwacha who represents the zone and in whose domain the crisis is raging has maintained sealed lips since the outbreak of the crisis”
“As a representative of the people, Bwacha is not only representing his tribe -Ichen, but all the people of Taraba South. As a leader, we enjoin Senator Bwacha to play a role of a statesman that he is and quickly make efforts to meet with stakeholders of both Ichen and Tiv to find a way of resolving the crisis”
In a swift reaction, Sen. Emmanuel Bwacha wondered what the Tiv people want him to say over the killings on Ichen people which has been organized by the Tiv
“What do they want me to say, to come out and support them over the killings on Ichen people? they have been killing Ichen people, I understand 18 people were killed close to Suntai village, a village of the former governor”
“For now am still investigating to know who their sponsors are and why the Tiv are killing my people this way, I want to know what they want first before any other thing, as at yesterday, the Tiv had destroyed all the remote villages around Mararaba town”
Reports say the presence of the security personnel in the area since the crisis, has brought relative calm to the communities involved.