From Esther Akaa, Lafia
Nasarawa State Government is to ensure that displaced persons from various communities in Doma and Keana Local Government Areas of the state return safely to their ancestral homes.
The Deputy Governor of the state, Dr Emmanuel Akabe, stated this when he visited Rukubi, Ekye Development Area in Doma LGA to interact with both the Tiv farmers and herdsmen in the affected communities.
Akabe who was briefed by community leaders and security personnel deployed to Rukubi to secure lives and properties of communities along the Rukubi and Agbashi axis, said he was directed by Governor Abdullahi Sule to visit the farmers and herdsmen in the area with the aim of providing solutions to the problem.
He regretted the manner in which the long friendship between Tiv farmers and Fulani herdsmen had gone sour over the years, saying that government was disturbed by the incessant killings and destruction of property that had continued to occur between the two ethnic groups.
According to him government would continue to work hard in ensuring that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) return to their homes to continue their normal lives.
The deputy governor called on the warring parties to agree on living together in peace and harmony for the growth and development of the state.
Representatives of both the Fulani herdsmen and Tiv farmers, all acknowledged that the crisis was an extension of the farmer-herder hostilities in Benue State which steered up tension and panic among them.
They sued for enhanced collaboration between the Nasarawa and Benue state governments to bring lasting solutions as well as the need for government more logistics support, share information and cooperation between members of the community and security personnel in order to avert further crisis.
The deputy governor thereafter, visited the Andoma of Doma, Alhaji Ahmadu Ogah and sought his fatherly advice on the best way to address the situation.
The traditional ruler, said there was need for proactive measures to be taken in order to avert cross border aggression. He called for additional deployment of security operatives along the Doma-Agbashi road to compliment the efforts which the Doma traditional council was making to return peace and the IDPs back to their ancestral homes.
The Voice also gathered that the deputy governor also visited the IDPs camp in Doma to commiserate with them over the sad incident, while assuring that government would do everything possible to return them to their ancestral homes.