Nasarawa remains bitterly divided over impending#EmergencyRule as calls for Maku’s head get louder

The recent renewal of communal hostilities in Nasarawa has firmly divided public opinion within the state. Nowhere is this more apparent than the debate over speculation that the federal government is mulling over the prospects of declaring a state of emergency in the state. Leading the charge are the two biggest parties in the country.Senator Solomon Ewuga (All Progressives Congress, Nasarawa North), and his Peoples DemocraticParty counterpart, Senator Suleiman Adokwe, representing Nasarawa South, have emerged as the faces of this increasingly vocal and at times bitter debate.Ewuga, in a Vanguard telephone interview Sunday, said although he was deeply concerned with the continuing insecurity in the state, despite peace efforts by the federal and Nasarawa governments, religious, traditional leaders and concerned individuals, he was still optimistic that dialogue not coercive force, would bring a lasting solution.He said that the deployment of the army by the Federal Government to bring the situation under control was welcome, but remained concerned that military force could further escalate the situation.Senator Suleiman Adokwe, who represents Nasarawa South, had last Thursday, at a briefing in Abuja,asked the Federal Government to consider declaring a state of emergency in the state, saying that the crisis “could no longer be treated with kid gloves.”In Adokwe’s words, “I am going to back the members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly who have already called for the declaration ofa state of emergency in the state.”The clashes have largely been located in Adokwe’s senatorial district. Ewuga has said that he would hold private talks with Adokwe on this matter.Ewuga and Adokwe’s disagreement come as two Peoples Democratic Party chieftains in the state, Ibrahim Saleh and Kawu Dalhatu, inseparate statements in Abuja, expressed concern that two weeks after the latest violence, information and supervising defence minister, Mr Labaran Maku, a prominent indigene of the state, was yet to undertake an assessment tour of the crisis area.The ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party have been trading blames over who is responsible for the spate of crises that has plagued the state for the past two years.The APC has accused the PDP of having a hand in the crises, while the PDP, through its state chairman,Mr Yunana Iliya, laid that responsibility at the footsteps of thestate government, and, yes, the APChas called for Maku’s removal as defence boss.The party says that he was not only an Eggon man, but also would not be capable of a neutral assessment of the crisis.But Iliya, in a statement, not only exonerated Maku of complicity in the crisis but blamed the APC government in Nasarawa for the recurring violence.The Federal Government has deployed troops to the state to restore peace and order after thelatest crisis believed to be between Ombatse militia youths of Eggon extraction and Alago ethnic nationality, left many people dead, many others seriously injured and property worth several millions of naira destroyed.