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Tension as monarch dispossesses Tiv farmers in Nasarawa

Nasarawa

There is palpable tension in the Tiv speaking communities of Kadarko chiefdom in Keana Local Government Area of Nasarawa state, following the use of securitymen to dispossess Tiv farmers of their farmlands by the paramount ruler, Umaru Dodo, on Tuesday.

The problem between monarch and the Tiv farmers began in 2019, when he assumed the throne, and allegedly commenced dispossessing the farmers of their farmlands, handing same over to Fulani herdsmen.

Spokesperson of the Tiv farmers, William Audu, who made the allegation, told our correspondent that affected Tiv farmers have resolved to report the nefarious acts of the traditional ruler to the state Governor, Abdullahi Sule for mediation to avert a breakdown of law and order.

He further alleged that the traditional ruler had recently connived with the Fulani herdsmen to attack Tiv farmers on their farms, injuring 12 of the farmers.

Audu also alleged that the traditional ruler advised the Tiv farmers to go back to Benue state, where they migrated from, rather than colonising his chiefdom.

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The spokesperson lamented why the monarch would order the Tiv farmers to cede their ancestral farmlands to the Fulani herdsmen, having settled in the area for over a decade.

He gave the names of some of the injured farmers by suspected herdsmenas Ferdinand Iorngure, Emmanuel Emberga, James Saka, Gbaka Tsegba, Kenneth Kerenku and Jacob Tor.

When contacted, the traditional ruler dismissed the allegations leveled against him by the Tiv community, insisting that all lands in his domain belongs to Kadarko chiefdom and not any Tiv person or community.

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Ihesiulo Grace

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