JDAN, Ishaku differ on efforts to quell Tiv, Jukun crisis as Sule’s mediation suffers setback

Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku and Jukun Development Association of Nigeria (JDAN) are not on the same page over the state’s efforts to control the crisis that have led to loss of lives and property in the southern part of the state.

While the governor claimed that his administration had done a lot to promote peace in the state, especially between the Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups, JDAN believed that his best was not enough, as the killings continued unabated.

Citing his numerous visits to the crisis areas at the Taraba/Benue borders since ascending the top seat, the two ethnic groups, according to him, have buried the hatchet.

The governor had said that he and his Benue counterpart met with leaders of the Tiv and Jukun communities on the need for peace.

Reacting to the claims of the National President of JDAN, Benjamin Bako, that the governor had done nothing to end the incessant upheavals, Ishaku said he had being working round the clock with his Benue colleague to herald the much needed peace.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu, the governor felt sad that Bako took “his desperate hate campaign” to the media.

While urging the Jukun and the entire people of Taraba to treat Bako’s statement as the vituperations of a frustrated man, the governor’s aide stated that the deputy governor also visited those areas many times at the instance of the governor and met with Benue stakeholders on the same subject.

Meanwhile, mediation efforts by Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State to end the Tiv/Jukun crisis suffered setback yesterday, following the denial of a Tiv representatives led by Stephen Ikyaa to participate in a peace meeting at Government House, Lafia.

The Tiv representatives from Wukari were reportedly sent out of the meeting while the peace meeting.

Ikyaa, a community leader in Wukari, said he was nominated wiith other delegates to represent the community, only for him and his delegation to be sent out of the meeting by the chairman of Wukari Council, who claimed that he had appointed somebody else to represent the community.