Taraba State Governor, Darius Dickson Ishaku, has again
raised the alarm that fleeing members of the Boko Haram members are
infiltrating the state.
He said this on Monday when Commander of the 23 Brigade of
the Nigerian Army, Yolanda, General Bello Abdullahi Mohammed, paid him a visit.
He stated that the insurgents that fled Sambisa forest were
now occupying the Bali forest.
Ishaku noted that this had increased robbery, kidnapping,
rape and other crimes.
The governor called the attention of the military to the
increasing state of insecurity at the Gashaka Gumpti National Park.
He said criminals had infiltrated the Park, thereby making
it unsafe for tourists.
He commended the military for its role in helping to restore
peace to communities affected by communal crises and appealed that the issue of
killer herdsmen be checked.
“The situation now is such that herdsmen carry sophisticated
weapons instead of sticks which they were known to carry and they now often
overwhelm security agencies sent to confront them”, he said.
“In the past, herdsmen and farmers enjoyed a cordial and
symbiotic relationship.
“Farmers wanted herdsmen to leave their cattle on their
farms long enough to eat up grass and remnants of harvested crops and in the
process fertilize the farms by excreting their wastes there.
“Even when the cattle ate the farmers’ crops, the matter was
always amicably resolved with the herdsman paying a token compensation. These
never resulted in any fight or crisis”, he said.
General Mohammed assured the Governor of that his officers
are men will continue to work for peace in the state.
He said, “Our men are always ready and willing respond any
time they are called to help restore peace”.
By Wale Odunsi
