Taraba: Restore Displaced Tivs To Their Communities – Group Urges Ishaku

Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State has been urged to fastrack the return of displaced Tiv persons back to their ancestral homes in some parts of the state.

The call was made by the Tiv Traditional Leaders Council via a communique, signed by Chief David Gbaa Tella, chairman of the council, and Chief Nelson Targema Ukange, the General Secretary, issued at the end of the 22nd Tiv Day celebration in Bali on Sunday.

The group noted with dismay that for more than three years now, many of their kinsmen have been in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across the state.

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They said, “So many Tiv communities that were displaced as a result of crisis in some parts of the state are not able to access their ancestral homes thus, making life difficult for the IDPs in their various camps and casting fear that they may be disenfranchised in the 2023 general elections.”

The group lamented that the people are only remembered when elections are around the corner. It, however, called on members to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

Condemning the ongoing killings in the Takum Local Government Area of the state, they urged the stakeholders in the area to address the issue.

Part of the communique read, “We condemn the insecurity bedeviling the state, especially kidnapping, and we are calling on all Tiv people to shun criminality but encourage the youth to go to school.”

Adding that “We equally urge the youth to revive the spirit of respecting elders and shun all forms of vices”.

Following the various upheavals that have in the past erupted between the Tiv and the Jukun, several members of the Tiv nation who fled their homes for safety have remained displaced.