By OUR CORRESPONDENT
Tiv Development Association (TIDA) in Nasarawa state, Middle Belt Nigeria, says the indigenous Tiv people in Awe, Obi, Doma and Keana local government areas have been ransacked and driven from their traditional homes by suspected herdsmen.
Addressing the press at Agyaragu, Obi local government area, the President of TIDA in Nasarawa, Boniface Ifer, said in January 2018 alone, 47 Tiv communities in the four LGAs were ransacked with 49 identified out of the hundreds killed by the herdsmen, while many are still missing.
He said 21 of the identified were from Keana, 15 from Awe, 6 in Obi and 7 from Doma, while 17 of the communities ransacked are in Doma, 10 in Keana, 8 in Awe and 6 in Obi.
Mr. Ifer said the Tiv people who are being singled out for elimination in the four LGAs are now forced to vacate their homes and take refuge at internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps where they are subjected to poor living conditions, ranging from exposure to poor weather conditions, absence of potable water and hunger.
The TIDA President who acknowledged efforts of Governor Tanko Al-Makura to arrest the crisis as well as provide succor, declared that “it however appears the situation is slipping out of his hands.”