Insecurity: Taraba Youths Appeal To Gov. Ishaku, State Assembly Over IDP’s Plight

Youths in Taraba State under the umbrella of Taraba Tiv Youth Progressive Mission (TTYPM), on Wednesday, expressed worry over the worsening plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.

The youths in a press conference in Jalingo also lamented the prolonged silence of Governor Darius Ishaku and the Taraba State House of Assembly in ensuring the IDPs return to their ancestral homes after over three years.

Naija News reports that Governor Ishaku had earlier in 2020 and in 2021, ordered the return of the displaced persons to their ancestral homes, however, the move could not produce positive result as persistent attacks were launched on the returning IDPs.

The youths lamented that their relatives in the southern part of the state were passing through all kinds of dehumanising conditions in different IDP camps and other places they have been taking refuge without government presence.

Mr Fanen Kaduna, president of the group disclosed that over ten thousand people have been frustrated from registering in the just concluded PVC registration due to the numerous challenges and more than thirty thousand were likely to be disenfranchised in the next general election if immediate action to return them to their ancestral homes is not taking.

“Governor Darius Ishaku had pledged in several fora to return the IDPs but since then, we are yet to see a practical action in respect to that for over three years now.

“All efforts by our elders and leaders to restore peace in our areas have failed due to lack of government attention.

“The governor has been silent since he ordered for the return of the IDP to their ancestral homes and move failed

“The state House of Assembly has also been silent over the people’s plight for over three years now. Some of our ancestral homes have already been surveyed and sold to the Fulanis in Ibi Local Government Area and others shared by our Jukun brothers.

“While we sympathize with our Kuteb neighbours who are now suffering a similar fate in the same zone, we want to again, appeal to Governor Darius Ishaku and the Taraba state House of Assembly to take proactive steps towards returning the Tiv Displaced Persons to their ancestral homes in the state to enable them also participate fully in the 2023 election and also end the persistent attacks and killings on the Kuteb peoples,” the youths expressed.