Tiv indigenes in Nasarawa State have confronted the leadership of Alago Ikweyi Gbayi Development Union over their derogatory statement regarding the recent killing in Yeleweta, Benue State.
Prof. Emmanuel Iornumbe Kucha, Acting President of Tiv Development Association, Nasarawa State, expressed surprise Wednesday that such an “insensitive” statement could come from the Alago community despite the cordial relationship that had existed between them for years.
“We do not have any issue with our Alago brothers/neighbours, and are therefore shocked at the harsh words, insults and open condescending bitterness employed in the statement of the Alago Development Association against the entire Tiv Nation for making a lawful and legitimate demand from the President of our country,” he said.
Kucha expressed puzzlement that while the state government is acquiring Tiv land compulsorily for purported agricultural purposes, it is the Alago Nation that has become the spokesperson for the Governor of Nasarawa State and the only ethnic group supporting what he termed “clearly unlawful action and injustice against the Tiv Nation.”
“We must make it abundantly clear without mincing words that the lands in question were de-forested by our forefathers and passed on to us from generation to generation, and the allegation that they belong to the Alago Nation is not correct,” Kucha stated.
He explained that this explains why the Alago Development Association is supporting the mass and compulsory acquisition of the land by the government, noting that the association would never support acquisition of its own land by any government agency.
Kucha drew a biblical comparison, referencing the Solomonic example where “in a contest for a child, the woman who was not the mother of the child was quick to agree that the child be split into two, whilst the actual mother prayed for the child’s preservation.”
“Based on the foregoing, we have chosen not to join issues with the Alago Development Association, because we believe that we are brothers and stand to gain more by fighting this injustice and ensuring that our lands are preserved,” he said.
He warned that if the injustice against the Tiv nation is allowed to stand, no farming community in Nasarawa State is safe, including Alago ancestral homes and farmlands.
The Tiv leader accused the Alago Nation of trying to rewrite history for selfish reasons and being economical with the truth by distorting their collective history. However, he maintained that the Tiv Development Association will always stand by the truth.
Kucha maintained that Tiv indigenes in Nasarawa do not have any dispute with the Alago Nation and will not be dragged into one, mentioning only specific individuals who have continued to play a part in the injustice against their people.
“We believe that the Tiv and the Alago Nations have a common history. They have fought together side by side against injustice, and they stand to gain more by standing together and speaking with one voice against this manifest and colossal injustice,” he said.
The Tiv indigenes called on their brothers to desist from such infamous acts and provocative actions, also calling for the cessation of ill-timed comments which only distort history and escalate tension with the propensity of creating unnecessary ethnic strife and disaffection.
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