Help Displaced Tiv Return to Their Ancestral Homes – Leaders Plead Ishaku

Leaders of the Tiv ethnic group in Taraba have again called on the state government to urgently develop plans that will facilitate the immediate return of all displaced Tiv to their ancestral lands.

The group made the call through a statement issued after the first Taraba Tiv summit, held in Jalingo, over the weekend.

They also condemned the killings, mutilations and destruction of valuables belonging to the Tiv in the state.

Jointly signed by the Chairman of the Central Planning Committee, Rev. Fr. Simon Akuraga and the secretary, Justin Tyopuusu, the group called on the religious leaders of the Tiv extraction to intensify their efforts to generate learning programs that would promote peace, unity and progress among the Tiv people.

While encouraging the promotion of social justice, alternative conflict resolution and the diversification of the Tiv economy through entrepreneurship and vocational skills, the empowerment of women and youth for a more peaceful and prosperous, they frowned upon the recent upheavals that broke out among the Tiv community of Takum council.

Stressing that the Tiv are open to acceptable political alliances that will uplift or emancipate them, they stressed the need for people to actively participate in all political processes.

Taraba's Tiv have in the past been embroiled in challenges including communal clashes which not only resulted in massive loss of life and property but also forced many of their members to flee their home areas .

At the time of writing, efforts to return those who fled their ancestral homes in the wake of the crisis have turned into a mirage, due to the government's allegedly lukewarm attitude to flounder.