By Terna Chikpa, Jalingo
Displaced Christian populations of Tiv extraction in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest after spending seven years in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
The displaced Christian farmers called on the Federal Government and the international community to intervene and ensure justice in their situation, to enable them return to their ancestral homes.
The IDPs said life has become unbearable, as their means of livelihood have been cut off since 2019.
Addressing journalists after the protest in Kyado, Benue State, Hon. Terhile Ahur, leader of the displaced persons taking refuge in the area, blamed the Taraba State Government, Wukari Local Government Council, and the Wukari Traditional Council for what he described as their uncooperative stance toward facilitating the return of the displaced Tiv population.
Ahur stated that while over 150,000 Tiv people in the local government area have been displaced and are taking refuge in Benue State, more than 300 churches, 70 schools, and 30 primary healthcare facilities belonging to Tiv communities have been destroyed.
“It started as mere clashes between Jukun and Tiv in Kente village of Wukari in 2019. The situation has escalated into what we now see as a deliberate campaign against the Tiv people in the area,” he said.
He further alleged that the crisis has taken on a religious dimension, targeting Christians, particularly those of Tiv extraction, and claimed that attackers collaborated with Fulani groups to destroy churches.
The IDP leader lamented that all efforts to resolve the crisis and facilitate the return of displaced persons to their ancestral homes have failed, which he attributed to the perceived complicity of both the local and state governments.
Ahur also alleged that Tiv people have been labeled as “settlers” in Wukari LGA, while their ancestral lands have been taken over and redistributed.
“For the past seven years, all efforts to return to our ancestral homes and farms in Wukari Local Government Area have proved abortive due to the seeming complicity of both the local and state governments,” he said.
“Our ancestral homes and farms have been taken over and shared by others, with tacit support from authorities. Today, we have been tagged as ‘settlers’ in Wukari LGA.”
He emphasized that the political history of the area demonstrates that Tiv people are genuine indigenes of Wukari and Taraba State.
According to him, Tiv presence in the state predates the colonial era.
He cited historical instances, including the 1959 general elections during which Hon. Charles Tangul Gaza, a Tiv man, contested and won the Wukari seat in the Federal House of Representatives under the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC).
He also referenced post-independence political participation, noting that Tiv politicians such as Hon. David Tagherga Mtuem and Hon. Simon Awua served in the defunct Gongola State House of Assembly in 1979 and were re-elected in 1983.
Similarly, Hon. Iyoltyer Musa was appointed Chairman of Wukari Local Government in 1982 by the late Governor Abubakar Barde, while Hon. Shinja Abako served as Vice Chairman in 1986.
The IDPs also accused the Nigerian Army of complicity in the crisis.
“We want the world to know that the Nigerian Army is complicit in our situation. Military checkpoints in our villages are positioned not to maintain peace, but to deter our people from returning,” he alleged.
They described the situation as a coordinated campaign against Tiv people and the Christian community, and called on the international community and the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene urgently.
