Farmer/Herder conflict: Taraba Govt set to create peace Commission, lauds SFCG
BY OKERAFOR ATHANATIUS
Taraba State government has reaffirmed its administration’s commitment towards resolving and/or bringing permanent solution to farmer/herder conflicts, crisis and wars across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.
Government has therefore, concluded plans to create an entity known as Peace Commission in the State.
The Chief of Staff to Governor Agbu Kefas, Dr. Jeji Williams stated this while fielding questions from Journalists shortly after a two day Media Retreat organized by an NGO, Search for Common Grounds (SFCG) for Adamawa and Taraba Journalists.
The Media Retreat held at Bolton White Hotel, Abuja, Williams said the bill establishing the commission has passed through second reading at the floor of the State House of Assembly, Jalingo.
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He assured that the early part of 2025, when the lawmakers must have done with the bill, and the commission established, all issues related to conflicts, crisis and war would be referred to the commission.
Jeji Williams also disclosed that the state government with a view to reducing incessant killings and attacks on individuals owing to crisis and conflicts has also set up what he described as the State government security frame work known as, ‘Taraba Marshalls’.
He added that Government is working assiduously with the Police, the Army, Civil Defence, Customs and Hunters.
The Chief of Staff further disclosed that despite the five point agenda of the present administration which he described as health, agriculture, banditry, women empowerment, and one other, government has also pledged to deal with other issues related to the State.
“You know that the governor of Taraba State has been up and doing, there are a lot of frame works that he has been addressing, there are a lot of policies he has put on ground”, he said.
He however, commended the organizers of the Retreat SFCG for doing wonderfully well in the areas of addressing gaps which he spelt out, are so little but have met a lot of drives in the lives of the participants (journalists).
According to him, SFCG, iom, Mercy Corps, comitas and the European union have been existing in the State for quite some time, working on a project tagged, project I and II.
Noting that an action plan has been produced in the course of SFCG’s activities which the State government is expected to work on, Williams revealed that the Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources are the two Ministries that are always vulnerable as long conflict is concerned. “The Federal Government has put up the creation of Ministry of Livestock Development”.
The state ministries have been captured and they have been attending meetings, and I think they have encompassed everything and they are going to take it up and work with those results.
While advising the participants to always make use of lessons gathered during the Retreat and other workshops, CoS advised that they should always do an indebt analysis to buttress facts.
