Billiri violence: group faults Gov Yahaya’s committee of inquiry
Chima Azubuike, Gombe
A group under the aegies of Tangale Community Overseas has faulted the report of Billiri committee of inquiry set up by Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya.
According to a statement signed by Lamela Lakorok, the group’s Secretary said it was unfounded the report that over Thirty two (32) mosques and one (1) church was burnt by the infamous Billiri Protest.
Recall that on March 19 the protest following the delay to pronounce the Paramount ruler of the community turned violent. In a submission recently made by the committee of inquiry 401 property and 8 lives were said to have been lost as a result of the violence.
The statement partly read, “After the unfortunate violence that followed a peaceful protest by the Tangale women in which they demanded the governor honor the culture and traditions of the Tangale people, the governor sent 25 Muslim and 9 Christian leaders to visit the sites and people that suffered loss.
“The report by the committee chairman, which the governor gladly announced and celebrated is quite alarming. It claims that 32 Mosques and 1 church were destroyed within hours on Friday evening. Two points of concern in that statement are, 1. The logistics required for such random, yet precise attack must involve coordination of many people.
“According to the report, most of the damage was done to businesses in a specific location. Are these 32 mosques in the same location? We know where two mosques and one church are located but would like to know of the others. 2. The number of Mosques alleged to have been destroyed within Billiri is clearly exaggerated for political and financial gains. Where are those mosques located? Can the committee provide pictures and names of the location? We are from Billiri and no one in Billiri can point to 32 mosques that were either torched or destroyed. The report is clearly tempered with by the governor because he has an agenda to harm the Tangale people’s reputation as we have pointed out already.”
The group also lamented what they termed strategy to use the media to rewrite the narrative, noting that it would not work.
“Another precarious and embarrassing strategy of Gov. Yahaya was the use of government-owned or supported media as a propaganda tool. He and his allies extended their reach to the Voice of Nigeria (VON) Hausa service, where an outrageous concoction of an interview of a purported member of Tangale youth, with an accent that is clearly not from Tangale, was recorded with the aim of broadcasting to Hausa listeners. In the audio the interviewee claimed his team of vandals was promised money by some unnamed people to carry out the mayhem in Billiri.
“The speaker, codenamed “Ben” threatened to reveal the names of their sponsors if they are not paid. Well, we know that he was paid to make the statement, but we encourage him to please go ahead and reveal his sponsors because we the Tangale people have been looking for the perpetrators of the mayhem beyond the governor himself. His own time of justice will come sooner or later. We also caution VON, not to let anyone drag its own reputation into the mud of fake news. We encourage them to investigate the matter and save its name from the children of Inuwa Yahaya, who knows no shame. Propagating lies on such a medium could lead to national upheaval,” Tangale Community Overseas added.
Mr. Story fabricator wehdone o,may u reap the fruits of your labor very soon….
I will like to advise the Tangle community to sue the governor committee in the court of law, for fake report and lies, for to take necessary action, so that court can verify