The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Taraba State

  • ‘New Taraba’ endorses Umar for 2019 governorship

    One of the strongest political groups in Taraba State, the New Taraba Agenda, on Friday endorsed Alh. Aliyu Umar, a retired director, national boundary service commission, to run for the 2019 governorship election.

    The endorsement took place at Fast Track Hotel, Jalingo -the Taraba State capital. In attendance were leaders of the group and supporters of Umar from the state’s 16 local government councils and 168 wards.

    The endorsement took the form of a parliamentary sitting. Former Speaker, Hamidu Suleiman, moved the motion for the endorsement of Umar to run for the governorship in APC as a representative of the New Taraba Agenda.

    Alh. Baba Muhammed, former House of Assembly Majority Leader, seconded the motion. Former Speaker, Ibrahim Useni, who presided over the proceedings, asked the delegates (congress) and they all agreed that Umar was the right candidate.

    The convener, Kabiru Jalo, a former federal House of Representatives, in a press conference, said the New Taraba Agenda had, for long, been observing the state of affairs of Taraba State and the situation was “horrible.”

    “Taraba State is in a horrible state. And we have looked and analysed the situation; how we can get out of here.

    “Today we have come to a conclusion, and I can tell you on good authority that we have zeroed down on the right person, Alh. Aliyu Umar. Taraba State has been backward in development and Umar is the right person for the job.

    “We have therefore, assembled all our representatives across the state to endorse him for the governorship election come 2019.

    “He (Umar) is a local, national and international breed, who understands the socio-economic and political landscape of the State,” the convener said.

    The group said it will shun “politics of religion, regionalism and ethnicity,” but present a Taraban and Nigerian, and sell his “confidence” for the election.

    “It’s about Taraba, not a one person project. We are going to do it differently, not the way people politick,” Jalo said

    The group allayed fears on the factional camps within the APC in Taraba. “We are going to collaborate and Umar will come out victorious with the APC ticket, without rancor. And together, the APC will win the governorship in Taraba State.”

  • 10 die in Taraba tanker auto crash

    Ten persons were reportedly feared dead in an auto crash involving a petrol tanker and a trailer in Zing town, Zing local government area of Taraba State.

    20 others who sustained injuries in the accident are receiving treatment at the General Hospital Zing and the Federal Medical Center Jalingo.

    According to eyewitnesses, a patrol tanker, loaded with premium motor spirit (PMS), heading to Yola, Adamawa State, lost brake and crashed into a trailer in Zing town on a market day.

    The tanker got into flames which engulfed many traders who were in the market for the purpose of buying or selling.

    Many buildings, vehicles and motorcycles, including other valuables, were burnt in the tanker blaze.

    The latest auto crash is coming three weeks after a truck crushed the Taraba State Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Ben Ubeh to death in the same town.

    An eye-witness, Nyanshako Ishaya, said: “a tanker, traveling at high speed, lost control when its automated break system (ABS) failed. He rammed into a moving trailer and immediately bursted into flames.”

    “I saw a man riding on a motorcycle in front of the tanker telling people to clear off the road, saying the tanker had lost its brakes and was unable to decelerate. Within a blink of an eye,  the tanker crashed into a moving trailer.

    “An expectant mother and three others burnt in the inferno. I saw them burning but I could do nothing to help them. The fire was too much and I had to run for my life.

    Ishaya could not ascertain the number of casualties, but said “many people died in that accident, which happened in the heart of the town on a market day when people were busy buying and selling.”

    Police spokesman David Misal, an ASP, confirmed the incident.

    Misal, who gave an up-date on the death toll, said: “We recovered eight dead bodies after the accident. Later in the evening, we discovered a burnt corpse inside one of the vehicles and this morning again, one of the injured persons died on his way to federal medical centre Jalingo.

    “So, all together, we have recorded 10 deaths from the accident. I can also confirm to you that several houses and shops were burnt, because the accident happened in a densely populated area,  more so that it was on a market day,” he said.

  • Taraba: Group appeals to Army Cat Race operatives to be fair

    …Protests arrest of innocent residents

     

    The Yoka Development Association (YDA), a Jukun Pan-African socio-cultural organisation in Takum, Taraba state, Tuesday appealed to the operatives of the army Exercise Ayem A Kpatuma (Cat Race) to do a sincere job and be fair to all.

    Members of the group, who are in mourning mood over the wanton killing of their relatives by Fulani herdsmen, also protested “illegal harassment, arrest and detention” of their members by the soldiers.

    The Nation gathered that, almost on a daily basis, scores of people are maimed and killed.

    Homes, farmlands and farm produce are set ablaze by Fulani herdsmen without provocation.

    The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps is rising daily, it was learnt.

    The Yoka Development Association, in a press conference in Takum, led by its president, Elder Theo Usmanu (Jp), said there were angry that in spite of the attacks on them by the Fulani marauders, they are still being harassed and brutalised by members of the operation Cat Race.

    It described the activities of the army as “offensive and provocative,” adding that “the situation has placed Takum and southern Taraba under siege.”

    Usmanu said: “Soldiers are harassing our people, collecting kitchen knives and cutlasses from them while herdsmen are walking freely with AK-47 riffles, burning homes and killing people.

    “The frequency of attacks by the herdsmen has increased, with the presence of members of the Exercise Cat Race in the state.”

    The group lamented that, for crying out that his local government was under siege, the council chairman of Takum, Shiban Yerima Tikari was invited by the Headquarters of the Nigerian army in Abuja for questioning on April 20.

    The YDA president said: “Mr. Bwasse Tanimu, Danasabe Garsama and Danjuma Dan-America have been whisked away by the soldiers. No one knows where they are being kept.

    “We wish to appeal to operatives of the Exercise Ayem A Kpatuma in Takum to adhere strictly to the rules of engagement, by combing the forests of Takum and Ussa to rid these areas of the killer-herdsmen.

    “We believe it is for this reason that Cat Race was conceived and constituted. But regrettably, instead of pursuing this objective, the soldiers are witch-hunting the people of Takum and southern Taraba.

    “What else can one say, when not even one killer-herdsman has been arrested? Can we say the exercise Cat Race is a success or failed project?

    “During the flagging off of Cat Race in Makurdi, Benue State, on February 19, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Tukur Buratai assured that the exercise, not an operation, was not targeted at any individual.

    “He (Buratai) stated that the exercise will help residents who have been displaced to return to their respective homes.

    But alas, the story of southern Taraba is different. Instead of confronting the invading killer-Fulani herdsmen, the Cat Race operatives choose to turn blind eyes to the killings in Kando, Muji, Tati, Mbiya, Tamiya and Kpashimbe.

    “The soldiers chose to remain in Takum town while the armed bandits continue to invade and massacre our men, women and children in the villages. Are they not hearing the sounds of AK-47 riffles being used by the herdsmen?

    “The Cat Race was planned to last for six weeks, but for reasons still unknown to the people of Taraba State, the exercise in the state was extended by two months.

    “You may wish to know that it is during this operation that we are witnessing increased attacks and destruction of homes and farms by Fulani Herdsmen.

    “It is sadder that the extension is characterised by intimidation, battery, blackmail, harassment and whisking away of our young men by operatives of the exercise who are supposed to protect them.

    “Since Gen. Theophilus Danjuma accused the Armed Forces of colluding with armed bandits, the army now perceives Takum indigenes as its enemies, having arrested three young men and declared five others on a wanted list.

    “Why has the army taken sides with people they identify as foreigners, and most recently as Libyans, against Nigerians? This is unacceptable and a deliberate attempt to induce fear in us for the actualisation of an age-long agenda. We say no to intimidation in our ancestral land!”

    Read Also: Ayem Akpatuma: Taraba Students Honour Nigerian Army Over Peace Efforts

  • Army arrests gang leader in Taraba

    The Nigerian Army said last night that a notorious criminal gang leader has been arrested in Taraba State.

    Its Director of public relations Brig Gen Texas Chukwu said in a statement that the suspect and his gang were responsible for various criminal activities in the state.

    He said: “The Nigerian Army has arrested a notorious criminal, Mr Bwesse H. Tanimu a.k.a skin in Taraba State.

    “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect with other members of his gang still at large are said to be responsible for various criminal activities within Takum and its environs.

    “The Nigerian Army wishes to assured the public of protection of lives and property at all times”.

    Read Also: Army declares five wanted over Taraba killings

     

  • Soldiers, herdsmen, terrorizing my people – Taraba Gov

    The Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku has cried out over what he described as the continued wave of attacks across the various communities in the state.

    Ishaku addressed the media in Abuja shortly after the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (APC).

    He described Takum in southern Taraba as the worst hit, saying communities in the area are being harassed by herdsmen and soldiers on a daily basis.

    The governor said, “In the southern part of Taraba, the military has been withdrawn, but that is not only the case. We are still being harassed by the herdsmen militia.

    “The military has taken over the job of the police and bombarding peoples houses at 2:am, arresting youths and locking them up.

    “Two of these  youths were missing and we understand that they are with the military and being transferred to the Abuja military headquarters.

    “I asked for the reason. Nobody has confronted me with the reason. All I was told was that they committed crime. Which crime nobody has told me about as the Chief Executive and Chief Security Officer of the state.

    “Nobody has reported this to me. The police are not aware of this. The military have written to the Takum Local Government Chairman for him to report to them immediately to be arrested.

    “I don’t know what is happening. The armed forces are not protecting the people against the killer herdsmen, but are now going around arresting the youths in the town”.

    According to Governor Ishaku, the continued attacks and harassment have led to protests and demonstrations by various groups in the state, including women groups.

    “The situation is getting really bad. I am now calling on the federal government ‎to call on the military to bring back those boys that were arrested and allow the police to do their job if indeed, they are criminals and to insist the military do what they are asked to do and that is to defend us. They should not allow us to be vulnerable”.

  • Three Taraba varsity students killed by falling trees in Cameroon

    Three students of the Taraba State University lost their lives when they were  hit by falling trees during a rainstorm at the Bouba Njidda National Wild Life Park in Cameroon.

    The Deputy Registrar, Information and Publication of the university, Malam Sanusi Sa’ad, made the disclosure in an interview with the newsmen in Jalingo on Wednesday.

    Sa’ad said that the incident occurred on April 16 during a devastating rainstorm at about 3:15 p.m.

    He said that the students were 400 level students of the Biological Science Department of the university on a research trip to the neighboring Cameroon.

    Read Also: Taraba killings: Army declares five wanted

    The spokesman named the dead students as Nancy Sam-Achak, Grace Thomas and Yusuf Mohammed, the president of the department’s students’ association.

    He said that the Head of the Biological Science Department, Dr Robert Houmso, who was also in the trip and 16 other students were injured during the incident.

    Sa’ad said that all the injured people were currently receiving treatment at the Garoua Hospital in Cameroun.

    NAN

  • Herdsmen kill a couple, two kids in Taraba

    Four members of a family were Wednesday massacred in Taraba state by the rampaging herdsmen.

    A 9-month old toddler, however, survived the attack, eye-witnesses told The Nation.

    Police Commissioner, David Akinremi, who confirmed the attack and killings, said, the incident, took place in Bikka village of Takum local government area, the home of Governor Darius Ishaku and former Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.

    The killing comes 11 days after Danjuma indicted the armed forces of “colluding” with the killers, asking Nigerians to arm themselves and balance the terror, otherwise they will all die one by one.

    The pictures of those murdered -a Kuteb-Jukun man and his wife with two of their kids, which went viral on the social media, looked gory, with multiple machete cuts.

    The Taraba police commissioner described the killers as “unknown gunmen.”

    “There is no confirmation yet, as to who they (the killers) are, and their motive.

    “But no item seen to be stolen,” he told The Nation, adding that the killers struck at 1:00am.

    Hon. Shiban Tikare, the Chairman of Takum local government council, also confirmed the killing of the four members of a family in a night attack.

    Shiban disclosed that a nine-month old baby, however, “mysterious” survived the attack.

    “The attackers invaded the village at night and slaughtered four members of a family who were deep asleep.

    “We heard gunshots around 1:00am along Takum -Ussa road. While we were making efforts to mobilise policemen to the area, we heard sporadic gunshots at Mbikka Central, a community just at the outskirt of the town.

    “By the time we got there, four people were slaughtered like chickens – a man, his wife and two children.

    “A baby mysteriously survived the attack. The attackers whom we suspect to be Fulani herdsmen also attacked Basam, a village close to Rtd. Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma’s farmhouse, setting the entire village ablaze,” he said.

    Shiban lamented that the killings were going on in the area, in spite of the extension of Exercise Ayem A Kpatuma (Cat Race) by the federal government.

    According to him, instead of combing the villages to flush out the attackers, the army was busy brutalising his people in the town, adding that his people were disappointed with the exercise whom he said was not yielding the desired results.

    Police spokesman, David Misal, an ASP, said the casualty figure was still not clear, “but four bodies were recovered.”

    Misal said the Divisional Police Officer in Takum and some troops were drafted to the area.

    Read Also: Ohanaeze youths hail Danjuma, vow to deal with armed herdsmen

  • Taraba: Six suspected cattle rustlers nabbed in forest

    A military patrol team from the 20 Mechanised Battalion, Serti operating in Mambilla, Taraba State, on Friday paraded six suspected cattle rustlers nabbed while cow sharing meat in Nyogor forest.

    According to Lt. Col. Sani Adamu, the Commanding Officer of the Battalion, 30 cows were also recovered from the suspects who were paraded at Mayo-Ndaga, near Gembu, in Sardauna Local Government Area.

    The suspects, all men, included Hammanjulde Yahya, 50, Umaru Yahya, 40, Paul Samuel, 35, Juli Adamu, 30, Ibrahim Yusufa, 27, and Usumanu Buba, 25.

    He explained that the soldiers were patrolling the trouble area, where several people were killed and hundreds of cows stolen in early March, 2018 when they got hint that the suspects were in the forest.

    “When we entered the bush on Sunday, March 25, we caught them (suspects) sharing meat of the stolen cows in Nyogor forest.

    “Further search into the deep forest led to the recovery of 30 stolen cows which have been handed over to community leaders in Mayo-Ndaga, for proper identification by their owners,” he said.

    The commanding officer advised the people to live in peace, and implored those in possession of stolen cows to quietly return them to community leaders or security agents, and be pardoned.

    “Those who refused to adhere to this advice should blame themselves for whatever happens to them when they are fished out,” he said.

    Earlier, in an address of welcome, the Village Head of Mayo-Ndaga, Alhaji Auwalu Mansur, had told the officer that his subjects had not been able to recover cows stolen from them during the recent crisis.

    The suspects have been handed over to the Police Command in Taraba for further action.

    NAN

  • INEC discovers ineligible voters in register

    INEC discovers ineligible voters in register

    The Independent National Electoral Commission has queried says some of its senior officials in Taraba State for allegedly registering ineligible voters.

    The illegal voters according to a statement by the Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Taraba state, Fabian Vwamhi has already been expunged.

    The statement read in part, “Following its laid down processes, INEC Taraba office has discovered that some ineligible voters have been registered in the ongoing CVR exercise.

    “This is not only contrary to INEC’s guidelines for registration, but is also a violation of the Electoral Act.

     

  • Killings: I have my way of gathering intelligence – Buhari

    Killings: I have my way of gathering intelligence – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari Monday appealed to all Nigerians to embrace peace and live together with one another in harmony so that “there could be meaningful development and not destruction.”
    Buhari spoke in Jalingo -the Taraba State capital during a visit in the crisis-ridden State to console families who lost their loved ones and properties in waves of attacks.
    The president said he has a way of getting intelligence on happenings across the country, so he should not be expected to always go out to war fields to make noise and insult the sensibility of Nigerians before it would be known that he was taking actions against killings and insecurity.
    He was accompanied to Taraba by the ministers of Women Affairs, Defense, Information and Culture, member sof the National Assembly from Taraba and other Service Chiefs.
    He was received by Governor Darius Ishaku, in company of the Speaker of the state Assembly and other top government functionaries, before having an interface with stakeholders from the crisis areas in Government House.
    Buhari said he had chosen to visit Taraba first, before visiting Benue and Zamfara states, after his trip to Ghana, to also condole with the people of those states over their lost ones.
    He noted there were more killings in Taraba, Benue and Zamfara than other places.
    “I am here (Taraba) to meet with the leadership of the state, to offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones and properties in violence.
    “People, sometime, expect me to rush out to the fields, to go and make noise.
    “But I have my ways of gathering intelligence. I get to know what is happening across the country without necessarily going to those areas.
    “I will be going to Benue and Zamfara after I return from Ghana, to also condole with the people,” Buhari said.
    He called on traditional rulers in the state to step up activities in their various Chiefdoms to foster peaceful coexistence among their subjects and to remain vigilante at all times.
    Governor Darius Ishaku said the state was delighted to welcome the President in its trying time.
    The governor noted that Taraba state was a “mini Nigeria” as it has over 80 tribes and three religions to handle. “It is not easy to always balance things up here.”
    Ishaku said the state was  contending with a different specie and breed of herdsmen who are militias moving around with AK 47 riffles to remove anything in their way, unlike the known herdsmen who had cohabited with the people for decades without any serious skirmishes.
    “The problem is never between the locals. Both the local Fulani and other tribes blend without issues.
    “We have a new breed and specie of herdsmen militias who move around with sophisticated weapons; they are poised to remove anything in their track.
    “They must be arrested now before it degenerates to something we can not contend with”, Ishaku said.
    Opinion leaders from the warring tribes insisted justice and fairness must be seen taking course and the rule of law allowed to prevail for peace to return.

    Read Also:Buhari to visit Taraba, Benue, Yobe, two others