Abel Leonard Lafia
The Nasarawa State government is holding an expanded security meeting presided over by the governor, His Excellency Engr. Abdullahi Sule.
The meeting is necessitated by the resurgence of farmer/herder clashes which occurred last week at the borders between the state, Benue and Taraba states.
The Secretary to the State government, Aliyu Ahmed Tijani, who gave the preamble of the meeting before it went into a closed session, revealed that though the skirmishes were not severe, the government deems it necessary to take precautions to avert an escalation.
“The farmer/herders conflicts between 2012 and 2018 at our border communities cannot be easily forgotten, while we thought that the combined efforts of the state and federal governments, traditional rulers and other prominent citizens of the state has brought peace to the affected communities since the middle of 2018,” Tijjani said.
“We are surprised to record the resurgence of such unfortunate situation last week. This scenario is worrisome to us as a state and is the reason for the conversion of this security meeting.
“This meeting is intended to discuss the emerging security threats and to proffer solutions on how to nip them in the bud before it turns into a major crisis not only in the affected areas but to the entire state,” he added.
Present at the meeting are security heads of the state, traditional rulers, leadership of Tiv Development Association (TIDA), the leadership of the Miyetti Allah cattle breeders association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Socio-cultural groups, local government chairmen, political heads among others.
