UMCN flays call for declaration of state of emergency in Taraba

Okerafor Athanatius, Jalingo

The Director, Connectional Ministries of the Southern Conference of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria (UMCN), Rev. Philip Micah Dopah, has described as senseless, a call on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in Taraba State by a Political Group from the state.

Rev. Dopah, who doubles as the Leader of the Southern Conference of the UMCN, stated this while briefing the media in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

While reacting to a call by a Group in the state under the umbrella of Taraba Progressive Movement that President Muhammadu Buhari should declare a state of emergency in Taraba because the security situation in the state has worsened and that the curfew declared by the State Government did not stop the killings of innocent people and destruction of properties by political thugs, the Christian Clergy said nothing can change the will of God for Taraba.

He said: “The Group is not unaware of the fact that during the Presidential Campaign Rally of President Muhammadu Buhari in Taraba State where so many people lost their lives, the Governorship Candidate of APC in the state asked Mr. President to send Security Agencies to the state during elections to help him have his way”.

“All the security challenges confronting the state and Jalingo in particular before, during and after the elections emanated from the request by the APC Gubernatorial Candidate during PMB’s Rally in Jalingo.

“For somebody to think of declaring a state of emergency in Taraba, we cannot take it, we resist it in its entirety, we are not in the War zone and we are not in the Military era.

“We know their activities, they are doing it deliberately in order to truncate the will of Taraba people”.

Philip Micah Dopah further called on the people of the state to continue to be law abiding, live in peace and support the administration of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku for developmental projects in the state.

He said in a political process, there must be winners and losers but all must embrace one another.

“One thing that baffled me was that the Candidates of the various political parties signed a Peace Accord with the Commissioner of Police that they would follow the part of peace before, during and after the 2019 elections”, said Rev. Dopah.

Our Correspondent gathered that since the Governorship election result was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, has been thrown into violence with a great number of people reportedly killed at different quarters.

By the time of filing this report, normalcy has gradually returned to the grey areas while 24 hour curfew has been relaxed.