Taraba Tiv/Jukun Conflicts: APC Chieftain, Council Boss Beg FG For Relief Materials For IDPs
BY AMEH IDUJAGI, JALINGO – A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief David Kente has called on the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other humanitarian organisations to urgently come to the aid of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) arising from the Tiv/Jukun crisis in Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba state.
Kente, who spoke with Journalists on Monday in Wukari, said that those displaced from their homes in some communities in Wukari Council area are currently going through serious hardships.
He said that hundreds of the displaced persons, including women and children currently taking refuge in primary schools within Kente and Wukari are going through untold hardships without water, food and other basic needs.
Kente said if the intervention is not urgently carried out, the IDPs may go into serious humanitarian crisis, adding that the little rendered by the Local Government and some spirited individuals in the area is grossly inadequate, hence the need for urgent government attention.
Similarly, the Chairman of Wukari Local Government Council, Mr. Daniel Adi said that normalcy is gradually returning to the area, stressing however that the IDPs are in dire need of food, water and medical attention.
Adi said that a total of about 500 displaced persons are scattered in kente, Wukari and neighbouring villages, adding that the requirements of the displaced persons are beyond the capacity of the Local Government.
He therefore appealed to the state and federal governments to come to the aid of the displaced persons even as he said that the Local Government Council has summoned an emergency meeting between the two disputing ethnic groups to find a lasting solution to the conflict.
In a related development, the Taraba State Police Command Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP David Misal also said that normalcy is returning to the area.
Misal said that attempts by the attackers to invade Wukari town on Sunday night was repelled by a team of security operatives stationed in the area.
