TheNewsGuru

Tag: Taraba

  • Sanusi’s genocide claims against Fulani in Taraba false, misleading – CAN

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Taraba State on Tuesday described as baseless and misleading the recent claim by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that over 800 Fulani people were killed in Taraba in 2017.

    Recall that Sanusi had in an interview with journalists last week alleged that in one weekend, 800 Fulani people were killed on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State.

    “I personally handed over to the federal government a dossier with the name and pictures of 800 Fulani people slaughtered in Taraba as well name of persons known to have participated in the act of ethnic cleansing but nothing has been done,” Sanusi alleged.

    However, the Association in a press statement issued in Jalingo on Tuesday and signed by the CAN Chairman in the state, Rev. Dr. Ben Ubeh, the association debunked the claim by the emir and urged him to stop fueling false propaganda and wooing sentiments for his kinsmen who are in actual sense, killing people on a daily basis in some parts of the country.

    “The records are there in most of the national dailies that reported the communal clash on the Mambilla last year. NGOs, UNCHR and other international organizations visited the Mambilla in the wake of that crisis, but in all of these the highest number of death recorded from both side was 18.

    “How is it possible to manipulate the figures and force all the different agencies to report 18 death figure. Obviously, the 800 Fulani people that were slaughtered according to Sanusi only existed in his imagination,” the statement said.

    While calling on the federal government to drop the idea of Cattle colonies, but assist herdsmen to build private Ranches, CAN urged the federal government to look into the plight of the over 10,000 internally displaced persons currently in camps as a result of herdsmen attacks in the state.

    The association called on all Nigerians to rise up and condemn the killings currently going on in the country, even as it urged people to be vigilant and pray fervently for peace in the land.

     

     

     

  • 2019: Buhari unperturbed by APC’s loss in Anambra, Taraba polls – Presidency

    The Presidency on Sunday said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to deepening the roots of democracy in Nigeria and as such is not perturbed when his political party (the All Progressives Congress, APC) losses elections to other political parties.

    This was coming on the heels of the rerun elections conducted over the weekend in Anambra and Taraba States where candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where declared winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The APC candidate also won the the Gwagwalada election.

    Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who was commenting on the outcome of the polls said: ‘‘the President is inherently committed to the independence of the electoral commission in his belief that the will of the people shall be the basis of authority of government which is expressed through periodic, free and fair elections. He will do nothing to impede INEC.”

    Congratulating the winners of the elections in Anambra central senatorial district, Ardo Kola state constituency in Taraba and Gwagwalada central constituency in the FCT, on behalf of the president, the spokesman reaffirmed that under President Buhari’s watch, Nigeria will record more free, fair and credible elections.

    The spokesman reiterated the president’s commitment to strengthening democratic institutions in the country, by ensuring that all relevant institutions in the electoral process maintain a high-level of professionalism and independence throughout the electoral process.

    While commending INEC, security agencies, civil societies, the media and other stakeholders for their roles in the elections, Mr. Garba called on parties not satisfied with the outcome of the polls to heed the president’s counsel by seeking legal redress through constitutional means.

  • PDP’s Bukuni wins Ardo-kola Constituency bye-election in Taraba

    Mr Dominic Bakuni of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP ) has won the Ardo-kola State Constituency Bye-election, Taraba, conducted on Saturday.

    The bye-election was conducted in ten Registration Areas: Alin Gora, Ardo kola, Iware, Jauro Yinu, Lamido Borno, Mayo renewo, Sarkin Dutse, Sunkani, Tau and Zongon kombi.

    Announcing the result on Sunday in Jalingo, the Returning Officer, Dr Manu Donga, Department of Economics, Modibbo Adamawa University, Yola, said Bakuni, having scored the highest number of votes with 8,848 , was the winner of the election and returned elected.

    He said Bokuni defeated his closest opponent and the All Progressives Congress(APC) Candidate, Alhaji Sanusi Jambawaile, who polled 8,308.

    Donga said Tukur Jibrin of DPP scored 118 votes; Abdul Dame of APDA scored 100 votes; Patrick Kini of ACPN scored 60 votes, while Sajo Mohammed of SDP scored 50 votes.

    The Returning Officer said the total number of votes cast were 18,106; the total number of registered votes was 60,858 while the total number of accredited voters stood at 18, 613.

    He said the total number of valid votes was 17,484 and the number of rejected votes was 622.

    TheNewsGuru reports that the Speaker of the Taraba House of Assembly, Mr Abel Diah, had on Nov. 20, 2017, declared vacant the seat of the former lawmaker representing the constituency in the House, Abdulmalik Dame, who died after a brief illness.

     

  • Three killed, six injured in fresh communal clash in Taraba

    Three killed, six injured in fresh communal clash in Taraba

    The police in Taraba State on Monday confirmed the death of three persons while no fewer than six others sustained injuries in another overnight attack on Maisamari town in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state by a suspected militia group.

    Monday’s attack occurs a few days after about 24 people were killed in attacks on three Taraba communities. That earlier attack occurred in a separate local government, Lau.

    The police spokesperson in the state, David Misal, who confirmed the latest incident to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Jalingo, said the incident took place during a cultural event called Nding-Chin.

    The cultural event was said to be taking place in the area for the first time.

    Mr. Misal, who said the area was now calm, disclosed that the command had deployed additional police officers to beef up security.

    Godwin Sol, Acting Chairman of Sardauna Local Government Council, told NAN that the administration had earlier banned all cultural meetings and festivals because of the security situation in the area.

    Mr. Sol, however, said he was surprised to learn that a group, which mobilised its kinsmen from surrounding villages, held a dance event in Maisamari against the council’s order.

    He said security operatives were later mobilised to disperse the gathering.

    The spokesman said due to the size of the crowd, a time frame within which to complete the exercise and disperse was given.

    Mr. Sol said at the expiration of the time frame, instead of leaving the town as agreed, the group relocated to the house of one Yaya Ahmadun to continue with the dance which continued into the night.

    “It was while this was going on that some unknown gunmen attacked the place and killed three persons and injured six others,” Mr. Sol said.

    The council boss said the host of the event in Maisamari as well as leaders of the cultural group have been arrested.

    NAN learnt that the injured are receiving treatment at the Gembu General Hospital.

    The latest incident is coming barely six months after a bloody attack on several communities in Sardauna Local Government Area had left many dead while property worth millions of naira were destroyed.

    The governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishiaku, on Monday joined governors of other affected states and some federal ministers and security chiefs to deliberate on the latest violence.


  • One dead, others missing as police, suspected illegal miners clash in Taraba

    The Police Command in Taraba says at least one person has died and six others injured during a clash between illegal miners and policemen in Mayo-Sina, near Nguroje, Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba.

    The command’s Spokesman, ASP David Misal, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that one policeman also got missing as a result of the clash that occurred on Thursday.

    He said the police had on Monday directed the illegal miners to vacate the site within 48 hours, but refused to comply.

    According to him, when a unit of Police Mobile force arrived the site on Thursday to enforce the directive, they were attacked by the miners.

    “This action cost the life of one person while several others got injured and are receiving treatment at Gembu General Hospital and other hospitals in the area,’’he said.

    NAN reports that the illegal miners from the Mayo-Sina mining site had in the past resisted several efforts to disperse them.

    Misal explained that the site had also been suspected to be a breeding ground for criminals.

    Investigations also revealed that the illegal miners came from other states such as Zamfara, Sokoto, Borno.

    Some others came from Mali, Cameroun, Niger Republic, Chad and the Central African Republic, with the bulk of unskilled workers coming from Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba.

    Commenting on the development, the Acting Chairman of Sardauna Local Government, Mr Godwin Sol, said the Joint task force from the Federal Ministry of Mines had asked the illegal miners to vacate the site but refused.

    Sol dispelled rumours that it was a clash between farmers and herdsmen, pointing out that it was purely an illegal mining issue.

    He, however, said the entire Local Government Area was now peaceful, and the Mayo-Sina mining site was also calm as the illegal miners had been moved from the area.

     

    NAN

  • A good thing In Taraba, By Evaristus Bassey

    By Evaristus Bassey

    And so all I cared to know about the late Governor Suntai was that he was from a poor state called Taraba but managed to build an airport because he wanted to fly in a private jet straight from Jalingo to Abuja, a venture which eventually triggered his demise, as he crashed the plane he was flying and managed to survive in a very sorry state until his death! As the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria planned to hold its second plenary for the year 2017 in Jalingo I became a bit apprehensive, since as one heading an agency of the Bishops I would have to join the Conference as well. My anxiety was predicated on the fact that three years earlier, we had dispatched a team to bring relief materials to displaced persons in Taraba, and they took a fair share of fifteen hours to make the journey. With Boko Haram insurgency, some of the shorter routes were not passable for security reasons, therefore, those who had to go to Jalingo from Abuja had to do so through an Isreal-like journey, made more tortuous by the very sorry state of Nigerian roads.

    It was going to be my first time in this part of the country. Though I had heard of the Mambilla plateau and all the potentials of this region, it wasn’t a place I ever looked forward to visiting because Nigeria leadership lacks the vision of developing infrastructure based on forward-looking diversification from oil to tourism.

    I was delighted then when I learnt that Overland had started scheduling flights to Jalingo thrice a week. The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria managed to negotiate a fourth flight as our departure for the Bishops’ conference wasn’t on any of the scheduled days. After an extra two hours of wait, we flew at about 17,000 feet above sea level and landed safely in Jalingo one hour twenty minutes later. I was extremely grateful to late governor Suntai for establishing the airport, for sparing me the unnecessarily long and circuitous journey by road. I prayed that his soul may rest in perfect peace.

    I loved the hills, the sparse savannah vegetation, the unhurried air of business that I saw, as we drove to our accommodation. We were quartered at the St. Charles Borromeo Pastoral Centre, Jalingo, a hospitality facility owned by the Diocese of Jalingo. I was surprised at the quiet decency, the adequateness, and yet the simplicity of the facilities. I was embarrassed for myself, because back home where I come from, the church in all its years was yet to own something as simple and yet edifying.

    The basic instinct I have about politicians is to disbelieve them. And so when at the official opening ceremony Governor Ishaku Dickson of Taraba was on hand to welcome the Bishops, using the occasion to sell his achievements and making a boast about being called “Baba Cucumber” because of his greenhouses, I made a mental note to check this out before I left. I would not just sit there and listen to another politician tell lies. And so when the Bishops had a closed-door session, I took the chance to go to town. My local colleague in Jalingo Fr. Bakari was on hand to assist.

    What he said about the city changed my perspective on Suntai. According to Fr. Bakari, Suntai could be said to be the father of modern Taraba because he was wholehearted in bringing development to the state by the infrastructure he established; of course the airport, roads around the city, opening up new areas, the State University etc. Suntai was loved because he made money available to contractors and monitored the work himself. In his time many people became rich, according to Fr. Bakari, because he paid and you delivered the job. I felt guilty as I realized I may have had a notion of him that was not true to his actual perception by those who should know. But then was I to blame? The average Nigerian politician had no sense of the common good; while it was quite okay to have self-interest in politics, the Nigerian politician had only selfish interest. So how about the present governor? I asked. ‘Well… He is not seen as generous with money as Suntai, maybe because of recession. He insists on the work being done before you are paid and politicians don’t like that. They like someone who just gives them money.’ So I pushed to ask if he was seen as someone that is obviously corrupt, and the answer was no.

    As we drove past the state university, we stopped by to see the greenhouses. We were allowed in after a call to the assistant project manager. And then, there they were, an array of white beautiful ‘tents’, each occupying a space of half a hectare, each devoted to a different crop. I have always seen greenhouse from a distance. It was amazing. But why a greenhouse when there is all this land? I asked Mohammed the soil scientist. ‘Because you could produce crops at controlled environment. The exact quantity of water, the nutrients, the heat level, everything is controlled to appropriate measures.’ I saw rows and rows of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, which I was told could supply the entire nation. The lettuce is planted and harvested within one month. As I chatted with the governor later in the evening when he had a reception for the Bishops, I sincerely expressed my admiration for the well thought out and coordinated effort. He says he bought tomatoes at Shoprite and swore to produce tomatoes for the entire nation. I wished more governors would get angry and do the work they conscripted our votes to do, for I sincerely believe Governors are the cause of our backwardness. As I prepared to leave Jalingo, I knew there was at least one good thing in Taraba.

     

    Fr Evaristus Bassey serves at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja

  • Taraba Gov postpones Suntai’s burial to Aug. 19

    Taraba Governor Darius Ishaku has postponed the state burial of former Governor Danbaba Suntai from Aug. 5 to Aug. 19.

    A press statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Alhaji Hassan Mijinyawa in Jalingo on Saturday said the new date followed the governor’s consideration of the report submitted to him by the steering committee for burial of the late governor.
    “Other activities lined up for the funeral ceremony will be announced soon” Mijinyawa said.
    He quoted Gov. Ishaku as describing Suntai as a great leader who impacted positively on the lives of Taraba people and therefore, deserved to be honoured.
    Ishaku also urged them to keep praying for the repose of the soul of Suntai and his family.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Suntai, who was receiving treatment from injuries he sustained from a plane crash in Oct. 2012, died at a hospital in Florida, U.S. on June 28.

  • Manbilla Killings: Rights group drags Taraba Governor, Ishaku, Speaker to ICC

    The International Criminal Court (ICC), has been asked to investigate Taraba state governor, Architect Darius Ishaku over the incessant killing in the state.

    According to a criminal complaint petition written against the governor to the ‎ Office of Madame Fatou Bensouda, t‎he Prosecutor, International Criminal Court (ICC), in Hague, Netherlands, the governor and some other top government officials in the state were accused of not doing enough to halt the killings.

    In the petition, written by a civil society organization, ‎Save Humanity Advocacy Centre (SHAC), through its attorney, ‎‎Alexandra Thome, the CSO also joined the‎
    Speaker of Taraba State House of Assembly, Mr. Abel Diah and Chairman of Sardauna Local Government Area, Mr. John Yep, as co-accused persons.

    In the petition, the ICC Prosecutor was asked to obtain International Arrest Warrants for the accused persons from the ICC in accordance with Articles 58 (1) (a), 58 (1) (b) (i), 58 (1) (b) (ii) and 58 (1) (b) (iii) and proceed to arrest the Accused Persons so they can face their trial and also‎ compels them upon conviction to pay compensation to the victims of genocide at Mambilla Plateau in the sum of $1,000,000,000 as punitive damages.

    The petition was written following a bloody clash which started on 17th June, 2017 between the Nguroje community and herdsmen at the Mambilla Plateau neighbourhood in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State.

    The clash has led to the brutal slaughtering of over 300 children, pregnant women with their unborn babies and elderly persons who were too weak to escape from their assailants.

    SHAC said in the petition, ‘Also, a total of about 17, 000 cattle were killed while several houses and villages were burnt around the area. Indeed, what became most worrisome to our client in recent time is the scale, extent and manner of the carnage, as people and animals are being killed in the most barbaric nature by irate mobs claiming to be the indigenes of Mambilla Plateau.

    “Available records show that the mobs were protesting the arrest of a suspected criminal by the police and decided to launch co-ordinated attacks on Fulani cattle breeders”.
    SHAC also said, “Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is obvious that crimes against humanity have been committed on the territory of Nigeria, thereby clothing the ICC with unfettered jurisdiction to investigate, arrest and try the persons involved in the attacks alongside Taraba State Government in accordance with Section 12 and 13 of the Rome Statute.

    “It is rather disheartening to note that Nigeria is still battling with corruption in the judiciary after over 56 years of independence, thereby giving opportunity to certain powerful but unscrupulous elements to keep getting away with evil machinations against humanity.

    There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigerian judiciary is incapable of providing the needed solution to the raging crisis at Mambilla Plateau at the moment.

    “To that extent, the solution lies with the ICC being the last hope of the common man to swiftly swing into action by offering an arena for investigation and hearing for the sake of justice, equity and fair play.

    We take solace in Article 15 (3) of the Rome Statute which qualifies this Criminal Complaint by itself as constituting “a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation” and mete out appropriate sanctions based on the prima facie cases of genocide, aiding and abetting illicit killings at Mambilla Plateau already established herein”

  • 2019: Ondo, Cross River, Taraba, 11 others get new RECs

    2019: Ondo, Cross River, Taraba, 11 others get new RECs

    In preparation for the 2019 general elections,the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has approved the posting of 14 newly sworn-in Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to states, according to a statement by its Secretary, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had last week approved the appointment and deployment of the new RECs to different states of the Federation.

    According to the statement obtained by TheNewsGuru.com on Friday, Prof. James Apam from Benue was posted to Kogi, while Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda from Plateau was posted to Benue.

    It said that Halilu Pai from FCT was posted to Plateau, Umar Ibrahim (Taraba) to Gombe; Ahmad Makama (Bauchi) to Taraba; Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa) to Bauchi; and Prof. Godwill Obioma (Abia) to Ebonyi.

    Dr. Nwachukwu Orji of Ebonyi was posted to Anambra; Dr Iloh Chuks (Enugu) to Abia; Emeka Joseph (Imo) to Enugu State and Francis Ezeonu (Anambra) to Imo.

    The commission also approved the posting of Obo Effanga (Cross River) to Edo; Dr. Briyi Frankland (Bayelsa) to Cross River; and Agboke Olaleke (Ogun) to Ondo.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the posting was released immediately after the new RECs took their oaths of office at the INEC headquarters, Abuja.

    INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu had earlier told the officials that none of them would be posted to his or her state of origin, and urged them to be prepared to serve in any part of the country.

    He advised them to adhere strictly to the provisions of the constitution, electoral act and other legal frameworks in the discharge of their duties.

     

  • Danbaba Suntai: The evolution of a relationship – Owei Lakemfa

    By Owei Lakemfa.
    In April 2012 when I was Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) then Congress President, Abdulwaheed Omar walked into my office to inform that he had just received a call from the Executive Governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai that he just landed at the Abuja airport and was heading to the NLC Office.
    It was a shock to us as there was no previous contact. We also did not know what his mission was. The only hint we had was that he had stopped the Taraba State NLC Council elections and I had issued a statement that his action was illegal and will be challenged.
    We deliberated and concluded that it may not be strategic for us that the governor be seen driving in the normal Governor’s convoy with siren blaring into the NLC Office.
    More importantly, it may be better to avoid a direct meeting between him and the NLC President so we can tell him, we have to report back.
    So Omar agreed to call him, first to say he was unavailable, and secondly, that the Congress will send a delegation to meet him at a neutral venue not at the Congress or the Governor’s Lodge in Abuja.
    Suntai replied that since he was already on his way, it may be inappropriate for him to simply drive into a hotel or public place to hold a meeting.
    He persuaded Omar to let the meeting take place in the Lodge.
    So NLC Deputy President, Kiri Mohammed and I met Suntai in Lodge. After the initial courtesies, a curious Kiri noted that His Excellency seemed to be wearing a uniform.
    I interjected to say the governor was a pilot. He glowed. He seemed quite happy to be a pilot. I told him that I even knew when he graduated from the Aviation School in Zaria; that a bucket of water was poured on his head. He seemed quite impressed that I had followed his activities and said, he thought Taraba State was an isolated place that people will not pay much attention.
    We then turned to the matter at hand. He said he had come to make a complaint against the NLC State Council, particularly its then Chairman.
    He claimed that the latter had constituted himself into the leader of opposition in the State, had become a security risk and was turning the NLC into an alternative government to the extent that it counters some of his directives.
    We asked him why he aborted the NLC Council elections. He said it was for security reasons.
    We repeated that his action is illegal and unconstitutional as the constitution gives Nigerians the freedom of association including that to establish trade unions of their choice without interference.
    We also pointed out that he is not a member of the trade unions, so he had no business with the Council elections.
    After some arguments, I told him that following his abortion of the conference, I had spoken with the NLC Chair who claimed that State Government officials had campaigned against him and even decided to transfer him out of the State capital, but when it was clear he was still going to win the elections, armed policemen were sent to abort the conference.
    The Governor insisted that what he did was in the interest of the State. I told him that the NLC was calling a fresh conference in the State, advised him to let it hold, but that if he stopped it, Congress will not only challenge him, but will move the conference to a neigbouring state or Abuja.
    The Governor said he was pro-workers, did not want an altercation with the NLC and promised to allow the new elections hold.
    But he asked for a concession; that the outgoing Chairman be barred from contesting the elections as a victory would undermine his standing or authority in the State.
    We told him it was impossible; that all workers who meet the Congress constitutional requirements have the right to contest and that we had screened all candidates before the State Council elections held nationwide and that the outgoing Chairman was eligible.
    We told him that if workers voted for the Chairman then that meant he was representing them well and that it would be in the interest of his government to work with whoever emerges as the Chairman.
    I then said that the Chairman had revealed to me that he and His Excellency were very close friends before he became governor.
    Suntai confirmed but said the Chairman was an ingrate. He said he had offered the Chairman a seat in his cabinet, but that he had turned it down saying he preferred to remain the NLC Chairman, and that the latter had proposed his brother to take his place.
    He said in appreciation of his campaigns for him to be governor, he had appointed the Chairman’s brother as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and also agreed to give the NLC a choice land and build a secretariat for the State NLC but that the Chairman later turned against him.
    I told Suntai I was impressed by the conduct of the Congress Chairman who rejected an appointment many lobby for and who despite his closeness to the governor remained upright leading the State workers.
    Suntai kept to his words; the State NLC elections held, the outgoing Chairman was re-elected and both men worked together as best as they could. He also retained the Chairman’s brother in his cabinet.
    Suntai and I hit it off; he called me regularly when he came to Abuja. One day he proposed that I be his guest in the State. I politely declined and explaining that as NLC Scribe, I will be unable to explain convincingly, my presence in his aircraft piloted by him, and in any case, what explanation will I give Taraba Sate workers; that the Governor is my friend and that I was on a private visit? Sometimes when we met, he raised non-labour matters.
    You can imagine my shock and sadness when news filtered on October 25, 2012 that Suntai’s aircraft, with him behind the controls, had crashed at the Yola international Airport. He survived with brain injuries, hearing and speech impairment.
    For five years he battled courageously against his injuries, at a time he even returned to office. I never met him again.
    On June 28, 2017, news came that he finally succumbed to his injuries; it was two days short of his 56thbirthday.
    He was a gentleman who made governance seem easy. May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace and may God console his family and loyalists who stood by him at all times. Ameen.