Acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar on Sunday vowed to return lasting peace to the Southern part of the state, while describing rumor that the Jukuns were target of the killings as false.
The Acting Governor who spoke to newsmen in Lagos through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Aaron Artimas said those spreading rumor of government complicity in the Wukari crisis want to set the state on fire by pitting different ethnic groups and religions against one another other to score cheap political points.
He said the government has continued to take measures to boost security of lives and properties in the Southern part of the state but some elements are bent on discrediting all efforts of the government under the acting governor.
Artimas said those insinuating that the acting governor has declared war on Jukuns in the Southern part of the state are the real enemies of peace among the Jukuns and the region.
“Its pitiable to say the acting governor is fighting the Jukuns or southern Taraba. The Jukun tribe has a cordial relationship with his government, he often consults with the Aku Uka, who is the paramount ruler of the Jukuns worldwide. He has visited the region several times since these crisis has started, he had led all warring parties in the region to sign a peace pact at the Aku Uka’s palace in Wukari.The acting governor has a lot of respect for the Jukuns just has he has for every other tribes in Taraba state.He has lots of respected Jukuns appointed in his cabinet, those spreading disaffecting information about the government are the main enemies of the Jukuns, they don’t want developments to come to the region, they want the jukuns youths to remain unemployed so they could be using them to ferment trouble and destabilize the government for their selfish political interest.”
He also denied claims that Muslim victims in the last Wukari crisis were given special preferential treatments. “How do you go to injured people after a crisis and begin to select Muslims for medical treatments, does the Muslim victim wear a tag to identify them as Muslims?Can the Acting Governor reduce himself by going to a crisis site and selecting victims of his religion? There are Christian doctors and nurses in all hospitals, the medical director of the state specialist hospital is a Christian, the health commissioner in the state. Is it possible for their fellow Christians to be sidelined under their watch?”
He added that the state government has empowered security agencies in the state through its operation wuta wuta by providing vehicle s for the police, military and SSS while local vigilante groups are empowered with motorcycles to patrol villages.
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