- Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state has urged the federal government to intervene, as he said he state is under attack by herdsmen
- The governor also alleged that the military is bombarding people’s houses at very early hours of the morning, arresting youths and locking them up
- Ishaku called on the federal government to order the military to bring back the boys that were arrested, and allow the police do their job; if indeed they are criminals
The executive governor of Taraba state, Darius Ishaku, has raised an alarm, saying his people are under threat of attack by suspected herdsmen militia, and has called on the federal government to intervene, Vanguard reports.
He made the comments while addressing newsmen at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Secretariat on Thursday, April 19.
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NAIJ.com gathers that the governor alleged that his people were facing grave danger in the hands of militia; pointing out that the Takum area had become vulnerable in the past few weeks. He also alleged that troops of the Nigerian Army were bombarding houses and carting off young men.
He said: “In the southern part of Taraba, the military has been withdrawn, but that is not only the case; we are still being harassed by the herdsmen.
“The military has taken over the job of the Police and bombarding people’s houses at 2am, arresting youths and locking them up. Two of these youths are missing and we understand that they are with the military and being transferred to the Abuja military headquarters.
“I asked for the reason, nobody has confronted me with the reason. All I was told was that they committed a crime which nobody has told me about as the chief executive officer of the state.”
He also lamented that the Nigerian Police had asked the Takum council chairman to report to them.
He added: “I don’t know what is happening. The armed forces are not protecting the people against the killer herdsmen but are now going around arresting the youths in the town. This is what led to the demonstration of the women last week. Now the situation is getting really bad.
“I am now calling on the federal government to order the military to bring back those boys that were arrested and allow the police to do their job; if indeed they are criminals.’’
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Governor Darius Ishaku threw his weight behind the recent statement by a former Chief of Army Staff, Theophilus Danjuma, which accused the Army of colluding with armed bandits and called for self- defence by citizens.
Ishaku disclosed this when he hosted the probe panel set up by the chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general, to investigate the recent allegation made against the Nigerian Armed Forces by the elder statesman.
“We in Taraba are fully behind what Danjuma said on self defence. As an ex-army general with a high reputation, I think that call deserves to be looked into and not to be criticised because he spoke the minds of everyone in Taraba and indeed all Nigerians," he said.
Time to take up arms against herdsmen attacks? - on NAIJ.com Street Gist:
Source: Naija.ng
