A former President of the Senate, David Mark, has expressed displeasure over the communal clash between Otukpo and Obi local government areas of Benue state and urged the combatants to sheathe their swords.
The Ijegwu community in Obi local government and Ojantele -Akangwu community in Otukpo local government area both in Benue state recently engaged in a communal clash that allegedly claimed lives and property worth millions of the Naira.
Consequently, a number of people, especially women and children, from the affected and neighbouring communities have been displaced.
Mark in a statement in Abuja Friday frowned on the “senseless killings and destruction of property on both sides of the divide,” describing the action as “alien to the culture and tradition of the people involved.”
He charged both communities to end the hostilities through dialogue as brothers and sisters who had lived in harmony from time immemorial.
According to him, “No matter the level of anger or provocation, resorting to violence is not the solution, the way out like in any conflict is dialogue.”
He tasked the state government to set up a panel of enquiry to find out the remote and immediate causes of the communal conflict with a view to forestalling a re-occurrence.
