The Tiv Culture and Social Association (TCSA), a socio-cultural group in Taraba, has appealed to the State and Federal Governments to provide relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) currently being resettled in the state.
TCSA is the umbrella body of the Tiv people of Taraba.
The President-General of the association, Chief James Baka, made the appeal at a news conference in Jalingo on Monday.
Baka also called on the security agencies to provide safety net for the IDPs being resettled in Wukari Local Government Area (LGA).
He urged the State and Federal Governments to double their efforts aimed at resettling the IDPs presently experiencing hardship in their refugee camps.
He urged the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and Taraba State Emergency Management Agency to urgently intervene and provide succour to the IDPs who, he said, still suffered deprivation, living under inhuman condition over the past four years.
“We, therefore, call on the State and Federal Government not to hesitate but deploy all immediate and necessary means, especially in the areas of providing security for the returning IDPs in Wukari and other LGAs in Southern Taraba.
“We urge the Taraba Government under the leadership Dr Agbu Kefas to personally visit the returning IDPs in Wukari.
“This will give them a sense of belonging and also restore in them the confidence about the governor’s resolve to end the crisis.
“We call on private, corporate and spirited individuals to come to the aid of our people by providing relief materials and praying for them on a daily basis to set them free form this precarious situation,” Baka said.
He recalled how some security personnel allegedly chased some returning Tiv IDPs away recently from resettling in their deserted homes after the prolonged Tiv-Jukun crisis of 2019.
He said: “The TCSA condemns in totality, the inability of the Taraba State Government to find a lasting solution to the recurrent Jukun Tiv crisis, which has been on since April 1, 2019 to date.
“We call on the State and Federal Governments to end the crisis forthwith and provide security to the displaced persons to enable them to enjoy their civic rights.
“We want the government to know that the Nigerian Army has taken over some of our deserted homes in Wukari for over four years now and any attempt to return always meet resistance from the army.
“We want to call on the Chief of Army Staff to constitute a panel of enquiry into this claim to enable the army to establish the validity of our claim and act accordingly,” Baka said.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that thousands of people have been rendered homeless, following the prolonged Tiv-Jukun communual crisis.
Many of the displaced persons have lived in camps over the last four years.
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