Governor of Taraba state Governor, Arc Darius Ishaku, has said that the military ignored his complaints about the influx of Fulani militias into the state since 2016.
The governor said this in a statement issued yesterday in Jalingo by his Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu.
He said he had written a letter to the President on January 26, 2016, to complain about “threat to peace and security in Taraba state.
” The governor in the letter had lamented the “devastating effects of internal confl icts involving the Fulani and Tiv which led to the sacking of 200 settlements in Gassol, Bali, Ibi, Donga and Gashaka local government areas by herdsmen believed to have moved into the state from neighbouring countries.
” According to the statement, the governor “also informed President about the concerns raised by some traditional rulers in the state concerning the influx of Fulani militia people and about the subsequent attacks on their communities.
” The statement read in part: “In the same letter, the governor urged the Presidency not to view these attacks and killings as inter-ethnic clashes anymore because the attackers take over ‘conquered’ communities and farm lands in large numbers.
“The governor called on the federal government to take a more serious view of the crises and act decisively on it but nothing happened.
“On July 5, 2017, Governor Ishaku, again, wrote a letter to the Acting President, Prof.
Yemi Osinbajo, while President Muhammadu Buhari was on medical treatment abroad, where he drew federal government’s attention to the precarious security situation as contained in a letter written by contractors handling the Kashimbilla Dam project and called for high level intervention.
“He called on the army, the Navy and Air Force to establish permanent security bases in the area.
This was again ignored.
” Continuing, it read: “The Taraba state government had complained against the conduct of the Commanding Officer of 93 Battalion, Ada Barracks in Takum on many occasions, but no action was taken against him by the military high command.
“For example, the Fulani militia attacked communities in Takum and Ussa on May 6, 2018.
The crisis led to the abandonment of 224 cows belonging to the Fulani herdsmen.
The Taraba state government took possession of these cows and handed them over to the Commanding Officer for safe keeping until the owners return to collect.
“This was meant to be a ploy to get the perpetrators of the crisis arrested.
Sadly, the Commanding Officer released the cows without arresting anybody.
“There was another case when the commanding officer marched soldiers to attack and brutalise communities in Kashimbilla.
Properties of the people were damaged, while many were injured.
” It added: “The letter said the Commanding Officer had been partial and discriminatory in the discharge of his duties and requested that he should be transferred.
The advice was ignored.
“This letter dated August 11, 2017 and signed by the Governor himself showed that the Governor has always raised the alarm on the security situations in the state, but was always ignored.
“On January 30, this year, the Governor of Taraba state wrote another letter to the Vice President to again complain about the attitude of the Commanding Officer of 93 Battalion, Takum, Lt.-Col. Ibrahim Babatunde Gambari, whose soldiers always looked the other way when the herdsmen militia men come to kill.
“Despite all these eff orts by the Taraba state government to get the military to act, they never did.
Since then, the arms and ammunition brought into the state have been deployed against the people in various communities in the state by the herdsmen.