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Alleging persistent discrimination and forced relocation in some areas of the state, a group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) of Tiv descent have called on the Taraba State Government and Governor Agbu Kefas to uphold constitutional provisions providing equal protection for all people.

The Tiv IDP community’s leader, Peter Achibo, made the request in a news release on Monday. He voiced worry over what he called a planned attempt to drive Tiv people out of their ancestral towns, especially Wukari Council.

Achibo claimed that Tiv returnees are disproportionately affected by the state’s decision to purchase more than 150 hectares of land from the towns of Ikyaior and Jandekyula for the construction of a Military Forward Operating Base (FOB).

After the Jukun–Tiv conflict on April 1, 2019, he claimed that while Jukun communities were given security and government assistance to return home, Tiv IDPs had been prevented from doing so for more than five years due to “systematic obstruction.”

He claims that nearly 300,000 Tiv people are displaced as a result of the abandonment of 283 Tiv villages in Wukari, 69 in Donga, 37 in Ibi, and several more in Takum. Achibo claimed that despite repeated requests, the government has not offered sufficient security for their safe relocation.

“This response by the authorities has raised serious concerns of fairness, impartiality, and equity,” he said.

Achibo also claimed that the impacted communities view the planned acquisition of more than 400 hectares of land as “an escalation of marginalization,” aimed at the few Tiv villages that have been able to peacefully return and relocate.

The lack of representation in traditional councils, political exclusion, denial of certificates of origin, restricted access to government employment and promotions, renaming of Tiv villages, imposition of external traditional rulers, and now alleged state-backed land grabbing are just a few of the grievances he enumerated for the Tiv people in Taraba State.

Achibo called on Governor Kefas to guarantee equal protection under the law and enable the safe return of all displaced Tiv people without fear of further violence, characterizing the situation as “purely unconstitutional and sentimental.”

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