BY AMEH IDUJAGI, JALINGO – After almost six months of fighting between the Jukuns and Tivs in the Southern part of Taraba state, the two warring sides on Thursday agreed to a ceasefire to allow the return of peace and normalcy to the affected areas.
This is contained in a communique issued at the end of a two day peace meeting held in Jalingo with representatives of both tribes, government officials and security chiefs in the state.
The communique read in part; “The speakers condemned the crisis and stressed the need for cessation of all forms of hostilities between the two communities to pave way for the peace building efforts being spearheaded by the state government.
“The meeting noted that the crisis has been hijacked by criminal elements from both the Jukun and Tiv communities and therefore the two communities should expose the criminal elements amongst them.
“We also resolved to stop reprisal attacks or revenge from both parties but report all forms of security breaches to the security agencies for appropriate action.
“The meeting also stressed the need for government to take deliberate steps to encourage the Internally Displaced Persons to return to their homes since adequate security operatives have been deployed to the affected communities to protect lives and property”.
The communique, signed by the Deputy governor Alhaji Haruna Manu, Danjuma Adamu and John Mamman for the Jukun community with Jime Yougo and Isaac Waakaa for the Tiv community, urged journalists to be more positive in their reportage while charging the communities to be wary of rumours capable of inciting the people and destabilizing the entire peace process.
