JALINGO – No fewer than 700 internally displaced persons in Wukari arrived Jalingo, the Taraba State capital on Friday.
The displaced persons, who arrived in trucks, were fleeing Wukari due to communal clashes, the latest of which occurred on June 15.
The displaced persons had converged at Investment Quarters in Jalingo, complaining that they had no shelter and food and needed assistance urgently from the State Government.
They appealed to the Taraba government to provide them with relief materials to cushion the effect of the heavy losses they suffered in the crisis, adding that their safety was no longer guaranteed in Wukari.
Alhaji Sani Sale, President, Wukari Federation of Muslim Ummah, blamed the crisis on intolerance, saying that people must learn to tolerate one another for peace and stability.
“My grandparents died in Wukari. So, you can see that there is no way someone will say I am not a stakeholder in Wukari”, he said.
Hussainatu Buhari, who lost five of her relations in the recent crisis – the fourth this year – said government must take proactive measures to curb the senseless killings.
She called on the state government to, as a matter of urgency; find a new settlement for them since it could not guarantee their safety in Wukari.
Alhaji Danladi Shehu, an elder in Wukari, wondered why the peace deal recently signed by all the ethnic groups in Wukari collapsed.
He insisted that traditional rulers in the area had not done enough in instilling discipline and tolerance amongst their subjects.
Shehu urged the Taraba government and security agencies in the state to review the security situation in Wukari with a view to finding lasting solution to the intractable crises.
The Press Secretary to the Acting Governor, Mr Kefas Sule, said officials had been directed to visit the Investment Quarters, evaluate the situation and recommend relief materials for the displaced persons.
He added that government was considering the establishment of another camp in Jalingo to compliment the ones in Gasol, Wukari and Ibi.
He said all victims of the crises would be given treatment free of charge at government hospitals.
There was breakdown of law and order in Wukari on June 15 which led to death of scores of people and destruction of property worth millions of naira.
About 170 people who sustained severe injuries are receiving treatment at the Jalingo Specialist Hospital. (NAN)
